The Voyager: Remastered
by KRKRK
Summary: The Remastered version of The Voyager. A normal girl was given the task of traveling through different dimensions and completing missions assigned to her, only this girl wasn't that normal. Follow the emotionless Jean Turner as she navigates her way through all the hell and horror. Ft. Starcraft... Tune in on RoyalRoad for the quickest updates.
1. Chapter 1

Jean Turner's eyes snapped open. A surge of memory entered her brain. Her purple pupil turned as she processed the information.

She was chosen by someone with ultimate power. She was given the blessing of having the chance to travel into different dimensions and, potentially, receive amazing benefits from these dimensions. As a result, she had to complete the missions she was given. Refusing to complete the missions was punishable by death.

A silver device was on her right wrist. She looked down and tapped it. She didn't have it before she was knocked unconscious. According to the memory, the watch was the only way she could receive missions from the one that sent her here, the Supreme One.

The watch turned and projected a few lines of words.

 _Name: Jean Turner_

 _Dimension: Starcraft_

 _Current location: The Hyperion._

 _Mission: Terminate Amon, the dark god._

Jean looked away up the watch and scanned the surrounding. She should've panicked. She would've panicked if she was the girl she was months ago. After all, she was taken away from her normal life and thrown into a world with chaos, aliens, and death. The background and the future of Starcraft was inserted into her mind, along with the information of the Supreme One. But a while ago Jean realized something was wrong with her. She could no longer feel any emotions. Things that would usually make her laugh or cry no longer had the same effect on her. She once tried to watch a horror movie in bed twelve PM at night and she didn't feel a single scent of fear. It was as if the part of her brain that controlled emotion was ripped away from her.

She felt empty, but she learned to live with that. Getting rid of emotion was actually quite beneficial. She was efficient in what she did.

Jean was in a room with metal walls. The room wasn't nicely decorated. Any room of a member of Raynor's Raiders wasn't decorated. Unlike the wealthy officers of the Dominion ranks, the rebels were more focused on practical use than colorful decorations. In any case, the Raiders didn't really pay wages and, even if they had the money, the soldiers didn't have a place to buy stuff. As a member of the most wanted terrorist organization in the sector, the Raiders weren't the most welcomed guests in Dominion territory.

Another wave of memories hit Jean, and she realized who she was. The Supreme One gave her an identity in the Raiders to help her complete the mission.

She was Jean Turner, a lieutenant of the captain of The Hyperion, Matt Horner. Jean knew very well she wasn't this soldier of the Raiders, but the memory was so real. She remembered everything about this made up character, from the memory of her parents to her having sex with some boy in college to her parents dying at the hands of a group of drunk Dominion soldiers who got away without a scratch because they were the guards of the director of the planet to her leaving her home planet and joining the Raiders, seeking vengeance.

Jean's mind turned as she processed the newly gained information. If the Supreme One was powerful enough to alter the realities in this dimension and literally create a person out of thin air, then why did he or she need her to complete this mission. Couldn't he just wipe Amon out with the snap of a finger?

Suddenly a projected figure appeared on the table before Jean. It was the figure of a mechanical computer with a female voice. An adjutant.

Adjutants were AIs the Terran commanders used to control their army. They could provide informational support for the commanders and help them control the battlefield as precisely as possible. Always calm and unfazed even in the worst situation, they were usually more reliable than human advisors and were generally the most trusted helper of terran commanders.

"Lieutenant Turner. Captain Horner requires your presence on the bridge." The adjutant spoke in a mechanical, emotionless voice.

"Did Captain Horner say why?" Jean took half a second to scan through her memory and find out how the old Jean spoke and acted before finally speaking in a similar tone.

"The leader of the Raiders, James Raynor, is aboard. Captain Horner wants you to participate in the discussion of future missions." The adjutant replied.

Jean learned from her memories that Captain Matthew Horner treated her like a student and taught her all she needed to know to command an army. It was as if he was training a future commander for the Raiders.

Instead of walking out directly, Jean closed her eyes and went over the habits of the old Jean once again. Realizing something, she turned and walked to the closet. The entire time, she was wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts. It was fine when she was alone, but it wasn't exactly the standard equipment of a military officer. The Raiders were technically terrorists, but Matt Horner was a young, and somewhat strict, officer. He was quite by the book in terms of maintaining the discipline of his men. He wouldn't be satisfied if Jean wore her casual suit to attend a formal meeting.

This was just a small thing, but that reminded Jean to be careful of similar events. From the closet, she took out a female military uniform and quickly put it on before walking out of the room. A sidearm rested in the holster on her belt as she walked.

Jean navigated to the bridge with ease. Men and women she crossed nodded at her kindly. The Raiders were a family, united under the same cause and against the same enemy. Their members were like brothers and sisters to each other. Jean nodded and smiled in return.

Walking through a metal door and two marines in blue armor, Jean entered the bridge. As the metal door closed behind her, Jean scanned the room. Officers and crew members were in the bridge, working, but she wasn't here for them.

There were three men beside the mission projector. One of them was wearing a clean suit. He was the captain of the Hyperion and Jean's direct superior, Matt Horner. A man in a blue armor stood beside the captain with a cigarette in his mouth. He had a tough appearance, and Horner occasionally threw him some disgusted look. Jean quickly realized why as the man in blue tapped his cigarette, and small clumps of soot fell on the clean carpet.

The third man wore short sleeves and had a beard. He had a tattoo on his arm and a revolver strapped to his side.

"Captain, Lieutenant Turner reporting for duty." Jean saluted formally, playing the role of a young but formal officer.

"This is Lieutenant Turner. She's a great commander and a helpful officer." Horner introduced the two sides. "Lieutenant, this is our leader, Jim Raynor, and this is his friend, Tychus Findlay." It wasn't a surprise Horner didn't expect Jean to know her real boss. Jim Raynor, despite his legendary past, had been laying low for the recent years after the Brood War, and Horner was the one handling the affairs of The Hyperion.

"Lieutenant…" Raynor's gaze trailed off as if he was sunk in some sort of memory. Jean knew his memory flew to another woman who once had the same title.

"Damn Jimmy, I never knew your officer is such a pretty, otherwise I would've came to you a while ago." Tychus groaned as he scanned Jean from top to bottom. Respect and modesty were unfamiliar to the fugitive.

"Sir." Jean ignored the criminal and acknowledged Raynor, who smiled apologizing in return for his friend's disrespect. "How may I help."

"The zerg, lieutenant," Horner explained as he put up a footage. In the footage, piles of bodies were put into bags. A reporter was explaining the sudden attack the zerg forces on Char launched on surrounding terran territories before suddenly being engulfed by a wave of flame.

The footage went dead. Jean bit her lips. Things weren't going well for the human beings.

"As you know, lieutenant, The Raiders have been short on supply for quite a while. We had to act as mercenaries just to keep the ship operational. New weapons are nothing but a dream. At this rate we need a miracle to stop the zerg invasion. We need to make sure our hardware and ammunition are up to the challenge."

Jean nodded. This was the problem with fighting for freedom. While the Dominion forces had constant reinforcements in terms of both weapons and soldiers, the Raiders could only gain more men by count on the Dominion to drive away their own people and do mercenary missions and earn credits to purchase outdated weapons. The power of the rebels shrunk with every clash whereas their enemies could easily replace the fallen with ten times the reinforcements.

Then again, if the Dominion couldn't stop the zerg, what chance did the Raiders have?

Of course, Raynor, the hero he was, didn't bother to let that small problem stop him.

"I'll check in with Swann down in the armory. Knowing him, he's already got upgrades for us." He assured.

"We'll need money for upgrades, sir." Jean suggested, not afraid to break her leader's hope. Raynor wasn't the type of person that would blame someone for telling the truth. "Last I checked, our finance can barely pay for the maintenance of the current assets, much less buying new ones. In fact, we only have enough ammunition for a small engagement."

Before anyone could answer, the comm blinked, and Horner touched the screen.

"What's the status, Matt?" Raynor asked.

"We've picked up a distress call from the planet Agria. There's a colony there under attack by the Zerg." Horner replied and pulled up the transmission. A woman in white suit appeared on the large computer screen. A pair of glasses made her seem clever.

"To any ship receiving this transmission...the Zerg are invading Agria...The Dominion abandoned us here...We're just a small farming colony. We've got to evacuate before we're overrun. If you're hearing this message, please help us!" She was desperate.

Jean calculated the statistics. The benefit of going on this mission was, well, present. The colonists, abandoned by the Dominion, would gladly join the Raiders that saved their lives. Colonists weren't professional soldiers, but in a world of drafting, civil wars, and aliens, every colonist could easily adapt to the life of warfare. Hand them a CMC armor and a gauss rifle, and they would be the standard marine. The farming colony had some resources, and the Raiders could harvest them.

On the other hand, the risk wasn't low either. Best case scenario, the Raiders empty their arsenal and hold the zerg off with minimal losses. Worst case scenario, the Raiders were cut off and ripped apart. Either way, if it was left to Jean to decide, she would go to Agria but make sure she was open minded about what to do, whether it was to save the colonists or just get in, gun down the colonists and take whatever resources and weapons there were in the colony, and get out of there.

Then again, she was just a soldier. The decision was Raynor's to make, and he wasn't called a hero for nothing.

Just like she imagined, Jim Raynor didn't hesitate to open up a transmission with the woman from the distress call.


	2. Chapter 2

"Thank you so much for responding to this distress call, commander. I'm Dr. Ariel Hanson and I represent the people of the Agria Colony." Dr. Hanson said gratefully. The distress call was a desperate move. When the Dominion garrison on the planet simply left without firing a shot at the zerg, she was already hopeless. Despite praying for help, she was already preparing for a last desperate push to sacrifice some of her people and get the others to safety. The communication from the Raiders was an oasis in the desert.

"Pleasure to meet you, doc. You can call me Jim. What's the situation." Raynor said warmly. Jean secretly suspected the pretty look of the doctor was the main reason for his kindness.

"The Zerg have overwhelmed our planetary defenses. The colony is lost. For the past twelve hours we've been evacuating people to the nearest starport, but the Zerg attack have been so intense we couldn't get any more through." Hanson explained. "If you can guard the highway, we can send the remaining groups through every few minutes."

"Don't worry, doc. We'll get your folks to that starport safe and sound." Raynor replied confidently. Jean bit her lips but didn't say anything. Even Horner was quiet. This was no place for a lieutenant like her to speak.

"I pray you're right commander. The Zerg are more terrible than I ever imagined." Hanson said with a haunted look. The transmission ended there.

"Lieutenant, how do you think we should do this?" Raynor wasn't blinded by the urge to protect the weak, at least not entirely. He was very aware of the trouble the Raiders were in, and he needed to find a way to minimize the losses the Raiders suffer. He didn't have a great way to do that. As experienced as he was, he wasn't necessarily the best commander in terms of tactics. This was why he went to the lieutenant Horner praised of and hoped she wasn't as ignorant as he was.

"Our units are limited to biological units like marines, medics, marauders, and firebats." Jean said slowly while thinking at the same time. The fact that she was a member of the Raiders proved to be a giant opportunity. If she could rise up the ranks and build on the already stable foundation of the rebels, she might be able to use the Raiders as a weapon against Amon.

If she wanted to do that, she would need to gain more authority among the Raiders. Even if she couldn't become the head, she should at least be one of the major decision makers. Missions like these were stepping stones of her ascension.

"I don't have the exact information of Agria and I can't come up with exact tactics, but we can try to focus our forces and use all our manpower and firepower to escort all the colonists to the ships in one single wave before the zerg forces can reach a dangerous point." Jean looked at Horner. "The firepower of The Hyperion can help as well."

"We have detected several zerg corruptors above Agria. They appear to have escorted the zerg ground forces here. The Hyperion will need to deal with them." Horner said. "But your idea about pushing in one single wave sounds smart. How do you think about putting them into action yourself?"

"You want me in command of the mission?" Jean asked, surprised. Both Matthew Horner and Jim Raynor were more experienced than she was. The ranks weren't as strict in the Raiders as they were in the Dominion, but even so a lieutenant commanding the entire operation was odd.

"I need to command The Hyperion and, knowing him, Jim is going to be on the front." Horner replied, forgetting about the criminal, knowing he wouldn't get his boots wet without being paid. He also knew Raynor wasn't the type of person to stay back in the safety of a command center while his men fought and died. Almost certainly, he would be with the marines in the frontline. The small smile from Raynor proved that as well.

"As you wish, captain." Jean replied, pretending to be nervous. "If I may, captain, may I check on the troops?"

Horner looked down on his watch. "It will take twelve minutes for The Hyperion to jump to Agria. You have until then." Jumping wasn't an easy task. Just the calculation need to prevent the ship from charging into a meteorite or a planet took a while. The jumping itself took time as well.

Jean nodded and walked out of the bridge with haste. As she left, both Raynor and Horner looked at the female lieutenant, satisfied.

"What do you think?" Horner said.

"Reminds me of the younger you." Raynor replied. He met Horner when they were in the Sons of Korhal. Raynor was the experienced cowboy while Horner was the young officer. When Raynor broke out of the Sons of Korhal, Horner joined him with The Hyperion. Ever since then, Horner remained as the trusted advisor of Raynor and helped him manage the Raiders. It took all his energy to keep the rebels from falling apart.

Horner was a one of the best commanders the sector has ever seen, and the fact that Jean was compared to him was impressive.

Behind the two, Tychus rose his eyebrows, not caring.

* * *

The Hyperion used to be the throne of Arcturus Mengsk and the flagship of Sons of Korhal. Even though its luxury infrastructure and powerful equipment were rendered practically useless by the lack of money, the basic parts remained. Among them was the armory.

The armory was the domain of chief engineer Rory Swann. The one armed man was a genius in terms of engineering. He knew all about weapons, from the basic gauss rifles to the top tier starships. Even though the armory was empty for now due to a lack of resources and credits, it could be filled with modified and upgraded gadgets as long as resources were in place.

Jean was quite familiar with Swann. Every Raider was like a family with each other, and the warm hearted man was especially so.

"Hey Swann." She said as she entered the armory. The marine standing guard at the door nodded at her.

"Jean!" Swann exclaimed, laying a hammer he was wielding down on a stand. "What are you doing here?"

"I'll be commanding a mission against the zerg. I'm here to see if our chief engineer has something to help me." Jean smiled and looked around.

Swann frowned, not because of Jean's demand but because he didn't have much to answer. To someone like him, it was painful to admit he didn't have anything, but the fact remained. "I don't have much to offer. If you get find the credits I can build a few siege tanks, but…" He trailed off.

Jean nodded, not as disappointed as Swann thought she would be. "It's fine. Just the bio forces should be able to hold the zerg off."

Swann shrugged, apologizing, as Jean walked out of the armory with her hands empty.

The Hyperion jumped to the space above Agria and unloaded twenty dropships onto the planet before turning around and engaging the zerg corruptors. The Hyperion was probably one of the best ship the Terran technology could yield, but the corruptors were formidable Zerg flyers with astonishing ability against other massive air units and a really tough carapace. Usually The Hyperion could blast them out of the sky with a few Yamato Cannons, but the ship didn't have that kind of energy storage. If they used a Yamato Cannon, then the next place they would be going would either be Deadman's Port for more energy or the endless depth of space because the ship no longer had enough power to make a jump. As a result, the top tier Minotaur class battlecruiser could only exchange rounds with the corruptors with its pathetic air to air laser batteries.

The corruptors couldn't kill The Hyperion because of its size and armor, but neither could the anti air batteries eliminate the zerg flyers easily. These corruptors weren't the most evolved ones as they came from a small brood, but corruptors were corruptors.

Jean wasn't in one of the dropships. It was too vulnerable against potential zerg attacks. Instead, she stayed in a command center with dozens of SCVs as the building flew out of the hanger of The Hyperion and toward Agria. Completely made of Neosteel, the command center could keep its occupants safe even if it was attacked by an army of zerg units. Even ultralisks needed a while to break through. Despite how Raynor liked to be in the front and be a hero, she had neither the skill and the weaponry nor the need to do the same thing.

The dropships and the command center reached Agria without being put under fire. The swarm units that assaulted the planet were relatively weak. The few flyers they had were busy exchanging punches with The Hyperion.

As soon as the building hit the ground near a pile of mineral storage, the SCVs poured out and started collecting minerals and bringing them to the command center. They couldn't be turned to weapons and units immediately, but they could be transferred back to the armory of The Hyperion and be worked on by Swann. There weren't many resources. In fact, the number of minerals here were so little that the Dominion didn't even bring them when they left because it wasn't worth the risk, but to the Raiders these resources were worth the time.

Again, this shows how pathetic the Raiders were. It was a miracle they even stayed alive for this long.

Technically these resources belonged to the colonists, but the Raiders were literally risking their lives to save their ass. The minerals were barely enough to repay the favor.

As the dropships unloaded next to the command center, Jean wasted no time and got right to command. The zerg have not completely ripped the highway apart, yet. "Commander Raynor, please lead all combat units to converge at the colonist camp. Stay there until further notice." The Hyperion unloaded 20 dropships, which included 190 marines, 18 firebats, 18 marauders, and 14 medics. This was a small squad of relatively elite forces.

The hero marine didn't mind receiving orders from his lieutenant. "On it." He replied shortly as the soldiers moved out of the dropships and toward the center of the camp. There, they were joined by marines in white armor. They were the colonist militias. Chosen from the colonists themselves and armed with the most basic weaponry, the militias were, ironically, the ones that stood and protected the colonists while the much more equipped and highly trained Dominion forces fled.

"Adjutant, get me the doctor in charge of this camp." Jean knew she needed to cooperate with to move out in one single coordinated push.

"Opening transmission to Doctor Ariel Hanson now." The adjutant said mechanically, and Jean looked down to make sure her lieutenant uniform looked straight. A few seconds later the picture of the nice looking woman in white appeared on the screen.

"Dr. Hanson. I am Lieutenant Jean Turner, the commanding officer of the Raiders. I am in charge of getting your people off this planet." Jean said openly. "But in order to do that, we need to work together. I hope you can let me command your men." Having two commanders in a battle might be a critical mistake.

Dr. Hanson hesitated. "May I ask why?" She was grateful toward the Raiders as they came to her aid at her most difficult moment, but on the other hand she didn't want to hand over the fate of his people to someone she just met.

"Forgive my insolence," Jean said coldly, trying to appear as sentiment and caring as possible, "but you have no experience in battle while I am an experienced officer. A coordinated effort is needed to get your people to safety."

"What's your plan?" Dr. Hanson dodged the question by asking another question.

"I will focus all the armed forces and the colonists in one group and bring them to the starport in one wave. Before the armed transports are ready, we will wait in this base." The only thing keeping the colonists from just going to the ships right now was the lack of armed transports. The colonists, without any sort of armor or transport, could never outrun the swarm. Majorly consisted of women and children, they would be mowed down by the merciless zerg. The few commercial vehicles the colonists had wouldn't provide much protection either. Only armed vehicles, equipped with vehicle plating and turrets, could bring the colonists to safety. Unfortunately, the zerg invasion came quickly, and the few old transports were dug out and needed some time to be put into action. As for now only two were ready. At least twenty were needed to bring all the colonists over.

"That's stupid! We need to get my people away as soon as possible. If we wait for all the transports to be ready, then we might be overrun by the zerg forces. We should send out convoys as soon as the transports are ready and try to get people away as soon as." Hanson replied with slight anger.

"Trust me doctor. According to tactical analysis, it will be at least twenty minutes until the zerg have enough forces to overrun a convey with 350 men as an escort. As long as we move before that, we will be fine." The colonists had around 100 militias left. "Plus, if you want to send out some colonists to safety before the others, who would you send?"

Dr. Hanson rose her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"The first to leave are more likely to get to safety. Even fools know that. Whoever you send first, the others would wonder why _they_ weren't the ones chosen." Jean continued. "There will be chaos."

This wasn't a game where colonists would walk onto transports one by one like they were programmed to do so. The knowledge that flesh seeking zerg units were landing on the planet every minute was enough to strike fear into the heart of these peasants. If all the colonists were leaving at the same time, then all those that were peeing their pants could do was sit back and pray they would get to the ships safely. On the other hand, if a part of the colonists could go first while others had to wait, those forced to wait would feel quite unfair by the inequality. Fear could lead to anger, and a group of angry mob in a time like this was less than ideal.

Dr. Hanson realized what Jean was saying. She was inexperienced, not stupid. Finally, she nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

The command structure in the terran army was interesting.

In the Dominion forces, the soldiers follow the orders of their commanding officers, who followed their leaders. For example, a captain would give orders to his squad. The captain himself would receive orders from his superior officer, maybe a major. That major would take orders from the commander of the army.

This was inefficient when compared to the zerg and the protoss. First of all, words took time to be said and be heard. Also, if the commander went rogue and passed down a false order, then the soldiers below would follow the wrong orders while believing they were doing the right thing. Also, if the commander was assassinated, then the command of the entire army would collapse. That was one of the reasons why ghosts assassins were so effective.

In comparison, the zerg and the protoss didn't suffer the same problem. Both races had psychic networks that allowed orders to be passed down from the commander of the highest level to the most basic zergling or zealot in less than a second.

In the swarm, the broodmothers had command over their own brood, but every cell they had was loyal to the queen of blade. The khala meant the protoss were unlikely to commit treason.

As of now, after Dr. Hanson agreed to hand over the command of the militias to Jean, she opened up the comm to the captain in command and told him the change of event. After that, she linked the radio of the captain with that of Jean, allowing the lieutenant to give orders to the captain.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the zerg count on the planet has already reached over ten thousand. Most of them were zerglings, but even zerglings weren't as vulnerable as they appeared. If they could get close enough, their claws could rip open the CMC armor of marines and, with enough strikes, the armored plating of armored transports.

"Sir, should we move out now?" An officer in the command center asked as she saw the zerg count growing. A scent of fear was in her voice. She was brave, but braveness didn't mean stupidity. The ten thousand zerg units were scattered around the planet, but with the sheer, number there were still a lot of zerg outside the colonist base.

"Not now." Jean denied. Just as the officer was about to say something else, a voice came in from the comm.

"All armored transports are ready to go." Dr. Hanson said. She sounded exhausted, but Jean could hear the slight excitement in her voice. The good doctor was quite stressed ever since zerg appeared, and she was more than happy to leave this piece of rock.

Jean pressed a button on the control panel. "Sir, captain Brandon, we are ready to move."

Captain Brandon was the captain of the militias. He was the typical worker. Hard working and willing to do anything to protect his family and friends, he was one of the primary reasons the militias stood their ground instead of get on a transport and leave the civilians to die.

"About time." He said loudly and passed the order down to his men. From the hologram projection, Jean could see both the blue Raiders and the white militias moving out. The colonists have already gotten aboard the transports a while ago. All the resources have been harvested and all the SCVs have returned to the command center.

"Adjutant, bring the command center into the air and follow the convoy." The command center might be the safest place on the planet. The few anti-air units the zerg have, including some hydralisks and individual mutalisks, couldn't break through the building armor unless the command center parked there for hours and allowed the zerg to unleash on them.

"Affirmative, commander." Jean felt the metal floor shaking as the command center rose into the air.

The convoy moved swiftly. The twenty transports were in the middle of the road. Marines in both blue and white armor walked along the vehicles. Firebats and marauders, with their heavier armor, were on the outside. The few medics that were available were scattered around the convoy, ready to use their nanobots to heal any wounded comrade. Raynor stood among his men with a modified grey armor and an enhanced gauss rifle.

A few zerg units were scattered along the highway. They were mainly zerglings and hydralisk. Perhaps with enough number they could overwhelm the convoy, but that number wasn't there. Hydralisks were ripped apart by gauss rifles while zerglings were roasted by firebats. The few dent in the CMC armor the zerg units caused by sacrificing their lives were healed by the medic nanobots. Everything was going well, but Jean wasn't as satisfied as she was supposed to be.

"Sir, the zerg commander has noticed your presence. A large group of zerg units is moving on your position. They are not enough to overwhelm you, but they are more than enough to delay your footsteps. You need to speed up." Jean urged.

"Copy that." Raynor replied confidently. Jean could hear the sound of his gauss rifle firing. She could even here a scent of the screeching of zerglings through the radio. "Move!"

Suddenly, some chaos appeared at the end of the convoy. "What the hell?" Raynor groaned. He couldn't afford any delay. "Jean?"

"One of the transports have been damaged." Jean tapped something on the screen. fifty colonists aboard are trapped. They will never make it to the starport on foot. Without any sort of armor they can't keep up with the convoy. "Fifty colonists are trapped. We don't have time to save them." She stated the obvious.

Raynor went silent for a while. Deep down, he was debating. Logically speaking he knew the colonists' chances of survival was low, but he also knew it wasn't him to leave the defenseless innocent to die. If he did, he would be no different from Arcturus Mengsk.

"All Raiders, hold your ground! Jean, send the militias forward with the convoy. My boys will buy some time." The commander finally made the decision.

He didn't even consult Jean, but that didn't annoy the girl. Instead, she merely passed down the order.

The formation changed. The wave of blue stopped their steps and turned around without any hesitation. Firebats formed the frontline with their flamethrowers raised. Marines knelt down and formed two firing lines, allowing them to fire at the enemies as quickly as possible. Marauders covered the flanks with their grenade launchers ready. Raynor stood among the marines.

The militias looked at each other, shocked by the determination of a group of strangers to protect innocent lives. They were used to the Dominion forces who oppressed the colonists when the situation was peaceful and fled with the first sign of trouble. The idea of an army protecting the innocent without considering the losses or gains was heartwarming.

Jean's eyes twitched as she realized the situation. Some would call Raynor's action stupid while others might think the man was brilliant. If he did things the "clever" way, like the Terran Dominion did, he would never outmatch Mengsk. As an established power with control over thousands of planets, Mengsk could easily crush Raynor if the latter did things the logical way. Instead. Raynor chose another route. By protecting the innocent and saving those the Dominion abandoned, Raynor became a clear contrast of Mengsk. Those mistreated by Mengsk would think of the Raiders as their first option. Mengsk's enemy would go to Raynor to seek an alliance. This way, Raynor at least stood a chance against the iron fist of Mengsk.

Coincidently, the old Jean was attracted to the Raiders with the same method.

If Jean didn't have the memory of the events in this universe, she might even think Raynor was not the depressed cowboy he appeared to be but was instead a cold calculating mastermind pretending to be a soldier of freedom to gain power and influence.

The wave of zerg that followed the convoy along the highway slammed into the wall of blue.

Cheap and always in plentiful numbers, zerglings were the hounds of the swarm. Their claws could tear open CMC armors and their carapace could make sure they could stay alive for a few gauss bullets. Their small wings made them even faster as they charged their way through the rain of steel. The first layer of zerglings was pushed back by the impact of marine gauss rounds. The beasts growled as purple blood stained the grey ground, but there was a reason the zerg didn't remove the pain receptors of their units. Instead of turning around and fleeing like normal animals, the wounded zerglings charged forward with twice the speed, and they kept on charging until a bullet found its way in either their head or their legs. Even if they were maimed, they kept on doing everything they could to move forward, whether it was by crawling or by some other way.

If that was just for the first dozens of zerglings, then it would be menacing but still manageable. What made things even worse was that this frenziness wasn't a surprise. When the first zerglings collapsed, another wave of zerglings followed the footsteps of their comrades as they literally stepped on the dead zerglings and leaped forward.

Some of the Raiders turned white even as they pulled on the trigger. A large portion of the Raiders were consisted of soldiers that were with Raynor since he was a marshal on Mar'Sara. They were the best of the best. The backbone of the Raiders, these men and women have survived the worst battles the sector has ever seen. The wave of fearless zerg was nothing compared to the might of the swarm on the scorched field of Char.

But not all of the Raiders were as experienced as these men. Some of the Raiders joined during the period of relative peace. The worst enemy they met were the Dominion soldiers, and that said something. The Dominion forces were like children compared to the swarm.

"Hold your ground!" Raynor saw the hesitation in the eyes of some of the Raiders. He knew he couldn't let this fear develop. If one man ran, ten would follow. He struggled to scream through the gunshots. "Behind us are twenty transports filled with civilians! Innocent people! If we run, they die!" He paused for a second. "We are not the Dominion! We don't leave the innocent to the zerg!" A scent of fury appeared in his voice.

In the command center, Jean tapped her face, thinking. There was a reason Raynor was one of the top enemies of Mengsk. The man didn't have an army, but he himself was stronger than an army. Just his presence made Mengsk seem like a clown. As long as he lived, the people would be reminded of how cruel Mengsk was. The abuse of media might be able to paint Raynor as the devil, but the people weren't stupid, at least not all of them.

Just like Jean expected, the soldiers that were shaking were overwhelmed by a new surge of strength. A wave of responsibility and honor took over them. Their hands were still shaking and their face were still covered by sweat, but none of them were backing off.

After around eighty dead zerglings, the first zergling finally clashed with the terran line. If it was a marine, then the zergling might be able to do something. Unfortunately for that zergling, it was a firebat.

The zergling launched itself onto the armor of the firebat, but even its claws could merely create a small hole on the heavier CMC armor of the firebat. The firebat grinned inside his armor as he slammed the dual arm-mounted flamethrowers on the zergling, knocking it over. Pointing the flamethrower at the zerg, he pulled the trigger.

"Flame on!"

The first zergling was immediately lit on fire. Flesh and muscle evaporated under the immense heat. The zergling screamed as it collapsed. The smell of barbeque covered the air, not that any terran had their helmets open to smell it.

"Medic!" Standing above the roasted zergling, the firebat yelled. The next second a green light beam landed on his body. Nanobots ran down his armor and located where the fracture was. They went to work, and in just a few seconds the hole the zergling put in place was nowhere to be seen.

The few medics the Raiders had were extremely valuable. Horner spent quite the money in Deadman's Port to purchase the needed gadgets. Luckily, they proved to be worth their price. If they weren't there, then the Raider formation here would be half its current size.

The death of one zergling was nothing in the course of the entire battle. More and more zerglings smashed into the firebats. All of them were roasted, but the dead were immediately replaced by fresh zerg units. Despite all the bullets and grenades and flames, it was as if the swarm formation didn't even shrink, not even a little.

The zerg may not be the strongest combatants, but their numbers covered that problem.

After losing half their number, hydralisks got into position as well. Spines were sent flying over the smaller zerglings and into the terran lines. As soon as the first wave hit, Raynor heard a wave of screams. The firebats' enhanced armors saved their user's lives, but the marines didn't share the same luck. Their standard CMC didn't stand a chance against the zerg ranged units. When someone was killed instantly, no amount of healing could save them.

Raynor saw a marine shot in the head by a single spine. The projectile went through the helmet and only stopped as it was halfway through the poor soul's head. From the part that came out of the back of the armor, Raynor could see dots of white and red. The commander was too experienced to turn and vomit, but his darkened look showed how the man really felt.

Marines and marauders returned fire toward the hydralisks. Luckily for the terran, there was only a small number of hydralisks present, and they were focus fired down. When they were gone, the biological forces could easily gun down the melee zerglings in relative safety.

Raynor head-shoted another hydralisk when he heard Jean speaking in the comm.

"Sir, the colonists have reached the starport. Three transports were taken down, but most of the colonists got out alive. Zerg reinforcements are arriving. You need to move now."

Raynor nodded. "Maintain formation and fall back!" The problem was there weren't any fresh terran reinforcements to provide cover, so the Raiders needed to move back while maintaining their suppressing firepower. This was easier said than done, and with one misstep the planned retreat might turn into a full scale flight.

The Raiders moved slowly and orderly. The elite soldiers again showed why experience was such an important factor. They moved slowly but steadily, continuously laying down an endless wave of gauss rounds on the swarm units. With them as an example, the less experienced were calmed down as well.

Suddenly, Raynor had a terrible feeling. He turned around and saw a wave of green approaching.

 _Green...zerg units have purple carapace. Why would he see green zerg?_

And then Raynor realized what they were.

"Sir! Banelings approaching!" Jean's high pitched voice confirmed Raynor's guess.

"Banelings! Spread out!" Raynor screamed on the radio. "Marauders! Firebats! Engage the banelings! Marines, target on the banelings!"

Banelings were suicidal zerg units. Evolved from zerglings, they had sacs full of acid. Their sole purpose was one explosion. That was it. One explosion and they die. Considering the efficient nature and the relative costliness of banelings, the only reasonable conclusion was that the effect of the single explosion was enough to make up for the cost.

This said something.

A single banelings could spray acid over a dozen clumped up marines. The acid could melt through the armor and, needless to say, human flesh. Firebats and marauders were better, considering the thickness of their armor, but even they would be heavily wounded.

Right now, the terran forces were formed in a tight formation for the sake of maximum firepower and minimum surface area and therefore contact with zerglings. This was good against zerglings, but it was practically the ideal target of banelings. Just one baneling could melt through a squad of marines and break a hole in the tight formation.

The biological forces didn't need a warning from their commander to take action. The experienced knew the power of banelings the hard way. Even the less experienced learned about the banelings in their training. Instantly, except for those been attacked by zerglings, every terran unit turned their muzzles at the green creatures.

Under the metal hail, the banelings were picked off one by one. The acid sacs, upon being broken, spilled acid all over the zerglings around the banelings, earning a wave of pained growls.

As the green gradually disappeared, Raynor took a sigh of relief. The swarm units here weren't the most evolved. Their banelings were crawling, not rolling. If they had centrifugal hooks and were rolling, like the banelings in Kerrigan's personal brood, the Raiders wouldn't receive the same success.

The Raiders kept on moving, leaving a trail of dead zerg behind them. A few men died, but others continued the footsteps of the fallen. They were about to reach the starport when the ground suddenly started to shake.

"What the…" Raynor frowned. The sound was familiar. He suddenly started cursing as he realized where he heard the sound before. "Oh shit…"

"Sir, ultralisk approaching!"

For a minute, Raynor really wanted Jean to shut up.


	4. Chapter 4

"Move move move!" Raynor shouted in the comm. This was even worse than the banelings. With the banelings, they could still gun them down. This time...what could he do to the twenty meter long, five meter tall ultralisk? Shoot it? Burn it? The most effective weapon the Raiders had were the marauders, but it would take a couple hundred grenades at the absolute minimum to take the giant assault beast down. Unfortunately, the zerg would've broken through the Raider's formation and sliced everyone up an hour before that.

The only thing they could do was run. They were close to the starport. Ultralisks were giant, and one of the prices of the enormous size was the lack of speed. Ultralisks weren't the fastest zerg unit, and if everything went right the Raiders should've been long gone when the ultralisk got close enough to actually matter.

"Sir, you can never outrun the zerglings." The voice Raynor was having nightmares of reminded. Maybe ultralisks weren't fast enough to catch up to the marines, but zerglings were. The marines couldn't sprint and fire at the same time. If they fled, then the best result would be losing a large portion of the Raiders before reaching safety. Worst case, all the Raiders would be surrounded and sliced apart.

"Then what do you suggest?" Raynor said loudly. The screams of individual Raiders that were too slow shook his heart. Some of the marines and even marauders and firebats were intercepted by the zerglings. With incredible efficiency, the hounds ripped open the armor and teared out the flesh. The trapped men fired desperately, but a few guns couldn't stop the zerglings from ripping their intestines out.

Screams covered the radio. Raynor held his fist tight. Every man that fell was precious. They were soldiers that gave their lives fighting for justice and freedom. They were a part of the Raiders, and yet they were also dead because of his order.

Raynor knew very well there would always be casualties in war, but that didn't mean he was ok with it.

Jean took a few seconds to check on the state of The Hyperion. Two of the five corruptors were down, but the remaining three were still able to keep The Hyperion occupied. Help from the ship was a distant thing.

As screams continued from below, Jean started thinking.

Unlike the Raiders on the ground, she was safe. Nothing the zerg had could threaten the command center. If she wanted, she could just sit back and watch helplessly like every other officer and SCV in the command center. Even if every Raider on the ground was massacred, they could still stay alive long enough for The Hyperion to arrive and pick them up.

But staying alive wasn't Jean's objective, or at least it wasn't the most prioritized objective. For some reason, she subconsciously wanted to complete her mission. No, that wasn't accurate. For some reason, she subconsciously wanted to stay alive and gain more power, and in order to do that she must complete her mission. Keeping the Raiders and Raynor alive was a crucial part of that.

That was why she was doing something rather risky.

"Adjutant, prepare to land the command center."

"What?" An officer frowned.

"Hostile zerg units are detected near the surface. Landing the command center here is unadvised." The adjutant's voice was as cold as ever despite the strange order.

"There are launch pods in the command center, correct?" Jean ignored both the officer and the adjutant.

"We have emergency escape pods."

"Sir, I have a plan." Jean said through the comm.

"I'm all ears!" Raynor yelled as two more Raiders fell. He unloaded a chain of bullets into the pursuing zerg and three zerglings fell, but four immediately took their place.

"I'm dropping the command center on the road." Jean said quickly.

"What?" Raynor frowned. Dropping buildings on top of enemy forces wasn't exactly the standard terran battle tactic.

"The highway is surrounded by trees and hills. Zerg will be slowed down if they can't move on the road. The command center is taller than the ultralisk and as wide as the highway. It can effectively stall the zerg!" Jean yelled.

"But _we_ are on the command center!" The captain of the SCVs reminded as he heard what Jean said through the comm.

"We can abandon ship." Jean said quietly before giving out orders. "All units in this building, go to the escape pods and aim for as close to the road as possible. Adjutant, as soon as all escape pods are launched, drop the command center in front of the ultralisk but behind the Raiders. Sir?" She asked for one final permission from her leader.

"Do it!" Raynor finally decided. "Do it now!"

Nodding, Jean and the officers in the building ran to the lower deck of the ten meter tall structure. There, a line of launch pods rested above a gate. Jean chose one to go into. The door sealed, and a few seconds later she felt the pod being tossed into the air.

On the ground, Raynor watched as six small figures came down from the giant command center. He grinned slightly as he recognized what they were.

With the occupants gone, the command center started to get closer and closer to the surface of the planet.

On the road, a hydralisk saw a shadow on the ground. Confused, it looked into the sky. That was when it saw the descending giant metal beast.

The hydralisk growled sharply as it passed what it saw to the broodmother in command. The psychic network delivered the news without a second of delay and the zerg on the ground wasted no time to move away.

With one final bang, the command center made contact with the floor. Due to the rapid response of the broodmother, most of the zerg units weren't crushed, but then again the command center's job wasn't to kill any zerg. It was to delay them.

With the road shut, the zerg units behind the command center tried to move through the side, but that didn't really go well as they had to go past all sorts of obstacles. As evolved as zerglings were, their tiny wings couldn't allow them to fly over cliffs. Some units started hitting on the command center, but the armor was more than enough to hold for the time being.

A small portion of the zerg that was tight on the Raider's tail managed to get by the command center. Unfortunately, they weren't as menacing as they used to be without reinforcements.

"Blast them!" The Raiders were afraid of a couple thousand zerglings, a couple hundred hydralisks, and one ultralisk. They weren't intimidated by a couple dozen zerglings. Raynor turned around and started firing on the zerglings. The rest of his men did a similar thing. Avenging their fallen brothers, these men didn't hesitate to kill every single zergling in the field.

When all the zerglings were clear, Raynor turned his attention toward the woman that made this possible. His heart darkened as he realized the drop pods didn't land on the highway. "Jean! Where are you?"

Meanwhile, Jean was in a dangerous spot. The drop pods missed by a bit, and the supposed arrival location, which was on the road near the starport, turned out to be a short distance in the forest. It was within walking distance to the road and therefore the starport, but it was also a distance away from the Raiders.

Jean and a couple SCVs walked out of the escape pod they were in. Beside them were half a dozen escape pods. The command center launched the pods at a relatively low altitude, so the pods, despite being off course, landed close to each other.

When all two dozen SCVs and half a dozen officers walked out, Jean pointed at the road. "We need to move now! It's not safe out here! This planet is practically crawling with zerg." They were non-combatants. The best fighting unit they had were SCVs, and that said something.

"Yes sir." The SCV captain said as the team started to move. They were close to their destination, but they were also slower than most zerg. SCVs were at least vehicles, but the officers had to move with their legs. Needless to say, that wasn't fast.

The squad moved as fast as they could. The SCVs moved on the side while the officers ran in the center. As she ran, Jean sensed a wave of fatigue on her body. She wasn't wearing any sort of armor, and she was never someone into exercise. Her body was weak. This wasn't ideal. She wanted to be a commander and should never get herself into battle, but if things like this was to happen again and she was once again forced into a hostile situation, she would need to make herself physically stronger, whether it was with technology or something else. She wasn't planning to melee the queen of blades and win, but at least she wanted to be able to survive a couple zerglings.

Suddenly, the SCV captain shouted in the comm with a shaking voice.

"Sir, zerg on the left!"

Jean turned and saw movement in the trees. She looked at the road. Her team was still half a minute of walking distance away from the main road, and if things went wrong the half a minute would turn into an eternity.

"All units prepare for battle. SCVs go to the front. Others stay behind." Jean said coldly. Her calm voice established a tiny bit of what could barely be called confidence in her men.

The SCVs followed orders, despite being almost paralyzed by fear. As the relatively tougher space construction vehicles moved to the front, Jean took out her sidearm.

It was a gauss pistol. Unlike the gauss rifles, the gauss pistol allowed its user to fire without wearing some sort of armor. It was practically designed for officers like her. Unfortunately, the power of the pistol wasn't that good either. It was more for show rather than for actual combat. In terms of combat, it was at most useful against unarmored terran. Against a swarm of zerg...Jean didn't like her chances.

But even now she wasn't desperate. Her heart was as cold as ice as she loaded her weapon and glanced through the enemies. Behind her, the officers took out whatever sidearm they had as well. They were shaking, but they knew they had to stand and fight as a group to have any hope of surviving. Running away would only result in them being picked off individually.

The zerg took a minute to realize the team wasn't some sort of bait before attacking. Most of them were zerglings, but they were more than enough to deal with the small squad.

The SCVs held their ground, which was never a sentence a terran would want to hear. Zergling claws sliced through their vehicle plating as the workers did all they could to retaliate with their fusion cutters. The mining and construction tool wasn't as effective in terms of its military usage.

Jean and the officers did all they could to fire against the zerg. In most cases the bullets would either miss or bounce off the carapace, but some attack were better than nothing.

A zergling charged at an officer. The man gulped as he fired at the beast as calmly as he could manage, but the gauss bullets merely bounced off. With one last leap, the zergling found itself above the man. Reaching its claws down, the zergling dug out the guts of the officer as the poor man screamed.

Jean was a few steps away from the fallen man, and she used the opportunity and fired a single bullet into the zergling's eye. The projectile accurately went through the defenseless area and pierced the zergling's brain, killing it instantly. Evolutions like organ redundancy, copying major organs and putting them randomly across the unit's body, wasn't used on something as basic as a zergling.

Unfortunately, the entire line was collapsing. SCVs were ripped apart and the drivers were dragged out and dissected. Officers were similar to their miner brothers. The only difference was that they didn't need to be dragged out to be cut into pieces.

A zergling jumped in front of Jean. The beast growled. It was an intimidation tactic, aimed to make the foe turn and run and be hunted down without a fight. As vulnerable its target may seem, it was always more efficient to take her without a fight compared to potentially taking a wound. The screams of dying men helped to add to the chill. Unfortunately for the zergling, it was trying to scare someone that could never be scared.

Finally, the zergling realized it was on a lost cause. Giving one final growl, it leaped at Jean.

Jean stood still for a few seconds as the zergling was about to land on her. Suddenly, at the exact correct second, she raised her gauss pistol at the exact position it need to be in. A bullet flied out and slammed the zergling in the face.

Lucky for Jean, the zergling was of a small brood. If it was a zergling from Kerrigan's brood, armed with adrenal glands, hardened carapace, shredding claws, and just generally speaking more evolved claws and carapace, the bullet would literally do nothing. In fact, Jean wouldn't even have the chance to pull the trigger at the correct moment because the speed of the zergling would be faster than her neural reflex.

Thankfully, this was an 'if', and the zergling was intercepted in mid air. It was in the air when it was shot at, so it couldn't effective dodge. Upon being hit, the momentum of the zergling's jump was lost, and it simply fell on the ground, still a distance away from Jean.

The girl backed up while firing. The zergling was still struggling to recover from the first shot when the second shot came, and then the third. At the sixth bullet, the zergling died in a puddle of its own blood.

Jean pressed a button and the near emptied magazin fell out. She wiped her hand on her belt, and a fresh magazin appeared in her left hand. She pressed it into her pistol while looking around.

The place was a slaughterhouse. Almost all the terran were dead. A few SCVs tried to run, but the only difference they made was to make their corpse a few steps away from that of their comrades.

Jean didn't have much time to think when she suddenly heard a growl from behind her. Without thinking, she threw herself forward. A ripping pain exploded on her back, but her last action saved her life. Instead of being turned inside out, she survived this attack with a half a meter long wound on her back.

Turning over and ignoring the pain with astonishing willpower, Jean fired on the zergling whose claws were still red. With a few calm and accurate shots, this zergling fell dead.

Reloading again while looking around, Jean knew she could never fight her way out. There were at least twenty zerglings around her, and they would be upon her in just seconds. She would need a lot more than a small gauss pistol to save herself.

Facing death, Jean's heart was unwavered. Even now, she didn't regret her choice. She analyzed the situation and made a decision she thought was correct based on her analysis. That was it. If this happened again she would make the same decision.

Suddenly, a wave of gunshots echoed through the forest. The zerglings turned their attention away from the girl and made a move on the attackers, only to get gunned down by a horde of marines. The blue armor told Jean who these marines were. A man in grey armor was among the first to fight.

Ever since Jean realized the escape pods deviated from the original course, she told Raynor where she was. She trusted the man would come to get her, and she was right.

From the beginning, Jean wasn't planning on getting onto the road with her rag tagged team. Instead, she was planning on staying alive as long as possible. Even if all the SCVs and the officers died, as long as she was alive when help arrived, it would be a worthy trade. She kept both herself and the majority of the Raiders alive. Sure, she lost a couple workers and some officers, but that was hardly a big loss.

Now out of danger, Jean allowed herself to collapse.


	5. Chapter 5

Jean woke up and found herself staring into a white ceiling. She immediately sat up and reached down onto her belt, where her pistol should be. She reached nothing.

"Don't move." She turned her head and found a woman in a white suit walking in. She recognized that woman. In fact, she talked with her just a while ago. It was the leader of the Agria colony, Dr. Hanson. For a moment she wondered why Dr. Hanson was here before remembering she was, indeed, a doctor. The last thing she knew, she was wounded and was unconscious.

Well, she was alive and, likely, on The Hyperion, so the Raiders retreated back to the ship after she passed out and the Agria mission was generally speaking a success. They lost a lot of men, but at least they got the one thousand or so colonists out.

"What happened?" She asked softly. Looking down, she realized why she didn't reach her pistol. Her lieutenant clothing was changed to a white patient's suit.

"After you fainted, medics in the field treated your wound and kept you alive long enough to get back to the ship to be treated by more advanced gadgets."

"How's my wound?" Jean asked, attempting to stretch her body.

"You'll be fine," Hanson explained. "Nanobots fixed your wound and your damaged intestines, but I suggest you take some rest. You lost a lot of blood."

Jean's nodded. The terran technology may not be as advanced as that of the protoss, but it had something unique. The healing technique, for example, was one of the things that allowed the terran to stand against protoss and zerg enemies. The nanobots of medics and medivacs could effectively heal injured soldiers to full health in a short amount of time. As long as the patient wasn't killed instantly, they could be restored. Even if a limb was lost, it could be grown back with sufficient time and the necessary equipment. This greatly improved the sustainability of terran biological units.

As she thought, Hanson handed her a fresh lieutenant uniform. "What's the current situation." Jean asked while changing her patient clothes to the new military ones.

"Most of the colonists are aboard the ship, but the Raiders lost a lot of men." Hanson paused slightly, sounding guilty. Most of the Raiders died saving the colonists. "We are now in neutral airspace. Jim, Jim is not acting right. He locked himself in his room and hasn't came out since Agria."

Pulling on the pants, Jean processed the news. She had a guess of why Raynor was so depressed. After all, his one order claimed the lives of countless Raiders. Whether or not the order was the right one was debatable, but either way as the commander Raynor was responsible for the death of his men. A usual Dominion officer wouldn't suffer the same problem as most of the officers tend to grow merciless to their men and treat them as nothing but numbers, but Raynor was a good man. Good men usually don't make good commanders.

Raynor was experienced with war, and this wasn't the first time he lost someone in the field. Theoretically speaking, he should've learned to manage his own feeling by now, but judging from what she heard, he was still affected.

Now in the uniform, Jean thanked the doctor and walked out of the room.

As for now, she needed Raynor to keep being the commander he was. Jean wasn't afraid to admit she was inexperienced in the art of war. Sure, she had knowledge about what would happen in the future, was extremely calm, and could come up with some cute plans, but she would need much more than those to defeat the dark god.

Raynor, as long as he was alive, would be a useful asset. First of all, he was famous. Most of the people think of Raynor when they think about going against the Terran Dominion or about fighting for freedom. There was a reason why Mengsk made Raynor the public enemy instead of just try to make the public forget about him: He was too famous to be ignored. If Raynor was dead...the Raiders would lose their source of reinforcements. No one knew who Matt Horner or Jean Turner was.

Second, Raynor had connections.

He knew mercenary recruiter Graven Hill, who opened up opportunities for hiring mercenary squads. These elite units were nowhere to be seen for now due to the Raider's financial problem, but as long as money was in place, Raynor could immediately find himself with an army of soldiers elite enough to go head to head with Mengsk's best men.

He knew Tychus Findlay, who had connections to the Moebius Foundation and therefore a source of income. With Tychus present, the Raiders could constantly both get information about xel'naga artifacts and get paid by the Moebius Foundation.

He knew Matt Horner, who was a great commander and also had connection with mercenary leader Mira Han. If he really needed to, just the man himself could pull out an army out of his hat. Of course, the price was going to be great, but connections were connections. Mira's Marauders were one of the most infamous mercenary forces in Deadman's Port, and just potential access to them might be important someday.

He also knew Egon Stetmann and Rory Swann. Both were brilliant scientists who joined the Raiders mainly because of Raynor.

If Raynor was suddenly shaken by what he saw on Agria and decided to leave the Raiders, then the small team would immediately fall apart. Jean would, once again, find herself alone and helpless. Without an army to command, just a single marine could kill her. Even if the current Raiders stayed with her, she would still be stuck in an awkward spot.

Bottom line, Jean needed to get Raynor back on his feet.

* * *

Jean reached Raynor's chamber and stopped to knock. She waited for a few seconds before hearing Raynor answering her.

"Come in."

Jean walked in. The smell of alcohol filled the room. She could see a few emptied bottles on the ground. The man has not been hesitant to drown his sorrow with drinks.

That was not a good sign.

"Sir." She said quietly.

"Jean? How's your back?" The man turned around slightly and saw who it was before turning back to the table he was facing. As Raynor spoke, Jean realized he was more than drunk. His words were slow and rolled.

"Sir? Are you ok?"

Raynor didn't answer. Instead, he merely rubbed his fingers on something he was holding in his right hand. Suddenly, he tossed the item to Jean. The girl caught it.

It was a shiny orange name tag with the name and rank of the soldier the tag belonged to. Jean glanced at the content.

Daniel Harrison. Sergeant.

Jean rose her eyebrows at the large man before her.

"Dan has been my brother since Mar'Sara. He was a corporal in the Confederate militia when I was the marshal in command. We took out a zerg infestation together, but we destroyed an infested Confederacy base in the process. The Confederate scum didn't care what we had to say before they arrested us. All of us. We went to prison together, and together we broke out of the Confederate prison and were saved by the Sons of Korhal. When I saw who Mengsk truly was and defected, he was one of the few men that stayed with me." His gaze faded into a distance as he remembered every second he spent with the man. "He was one of the few brothers I had left since the very beginning..."

"...and now he's dead."

"He survived Mar'Sara. He survived Char. He survived the UED. He didn't survive a tiny farming planet called Agria."

Jean looked down on the floor and remained silent. She acted like she was sad even though inside she was searching for a way to cheer Raynor up.

The two remained silent for ten seconds as Raynor took another sip of the drink. Jean finally spoke.

"I don't know much about Sergeant Daniel, but what I do know is that he willingly gave his life for you. He saw hope in you, and so did I, as well as everyone on this ship. We weren't forced onto this ship. We chose to come on this ship because we believed in what you stand for. We believed in freedom and justice." She paused to let her words sink in.

"Don't let the dead die in vain."

Raynor looked at Jean with reddened eyes. Jean stared back calmly. A few seconds later Raynor finally smiled and grabbed a bottle of bear. Instead of drinking from it, he suddenly poured the alcohol onto his face. The cold liquid brought chills to his skin but also made his mind clearer.

"You're right, Jean."

* * *

The two met again at the bridge, only this time this was a full scale meeting. Every important person on the ship, from Horner to Swann to Hanson, was present. Even Tychus was standing at the side. They were discussing the future of the Raiders.

"Dr. Hanson, what is the situation with your people?" For now, the survivors of the Agria colonists were aboard the Raider ship. The Hyperion could hold thousands, but keeping the colonists on wasn't a permanent solution. The Hyperion barely had the resources, mainly the food, to maintain the entire colony. They needed to find a place to settle down.

"I have located a refugee staging area called Meinhoff. It's away from the chaos in the sector and under Dominion control. If we can get my people there, they should be safe." Hanson came prepared. She had already researched about potential places her people could go before the meeting.

Raynor nodded. "We are criminals and the Dominion will jump on us first chance they get, but the transports you came here in have warp drives to take your people to Meinhoff."

Hanson nodded and suddenly remembered something. "Jim, some of my people want to join you."

The Raiders' selfless action on Agria impressed a lot of people they saved. The militias were the prime victim of this gratefulness. Some of the militias were older men who had families to take care of in the colony. These men were more experienced in life and, as much as they thanked the Raiders, weren't willing to leave their families behind to die for a noble yet almost impossible cause.

Another part of the militias consisted of young men and women. They were relatively hot headed and were less considerate of the consequences of their actions. Less experienced in life and thus more vulnerable to outside beliefs, they were attracted to the Raiders' cause like moths attracted to a campfire. They might get burned as they go after their goal, but as for now they could make loyal soldiers.

They were the men that asked to join the Raiders.

Raynor was surprised, but he nonetheless nodded. "It's always good to have additional men joining us. Speaking of men," He turned to Horner. "what are our losses on Agria?"

No one wanted to listen to the losses report, but it was a necessary part of war.

"240 soldiers were deployed to Agria. We lost 54 men." The cold numbers could barely cover the brutalness of the battle. Usually speaking, psychic networks and mind controls aside, an army would collapse when the casualty rate reached ten percent of the total army count. This number seemed insignificant, but on the battlefield when bullets were flying and men were dying, moral burned faster than a match dropped into a lake. The fact that the Raiders reached 22.5% casualty rate and were still fighting was proof that freedom was a powerful weapon.

The men and women in the bridge went dead silent.

"The casualty is not the worst problem." Jean broke the silence. When Raynor was trying to make himself sober, she took the time to examine the data of the Raiders, and she realized a critical mistake.

"We have emptied our arsenal while fighting the zerg. Eighty percent of the gauss ammunitions have been used up. Half of the firebat fuel and marauder grenades were gone." She spoke the cold truth. "We can no longer afford to fight another lasting battle. We can start a fight, but if that fight lasts for more than ten minutes, our marines will be meleeing zerglings and hydralisks." Needless to say, that was not going to be a pretty sight.

Raynor frowned. He had no idea the situation was this bad. Another proof Raynor was an experienced yet bad commander. "I thought we harvested minerals from Agria."

"They were in the command center. We dropped the command center on the zerg." Jean explained.

Raynor groaned. "You're right. We need money."

Beside him, Tychus, who was still smoking, suddenly paused as he heard the magical word. "I know the Moebius Foundation. They're a group of generous bastards." He said, attracting the look of everyone in the bridge. Slightly pleased by the sudden attention he received, Tychus took another smoke of his cigarette, ignored the threatening glare Horner gave him, and continued.

"They are after an alien artifact, and they are willing to pay big money for it. It just so happens that I know one of these artifacts is on a planet called Monlyth. It's guarded by a group of protoss fanatics, but they can be dealt with. If you want money, Jimmy..."

"We don't have the forces to take on an army of protoss." Jean interrupted the beautiful picture Tychus painted. The large man glared at her, annoyed.

"Jean's right. Without enough ammunition, we can't win against the protoss."

Raynor fought both with and against the protoss before. The image of protoss warriors, durable, fearless, and experienced, made a deep impression in his mind. Protoss were much stronger than zerg and terran in terms of individual combat ability. A single zealot, the lowest protoss rank and equivalent to a terran marine and a zerg zergling, could massacre a squad of marines and marauders without taking a single wound. Terran weapons would be deflected by protoss plasma shields while protoss psi blades could cut through terran armor like an army knife through hot butter. Raynor wasn't too scared to fight the protoss, but he would be damn careful before engaging.

Unlike Raynor, Tychus had no idea how powerful the protoss really were. He had been arrested before the protoss showed up, and everything he knew about these aliens came from files, which were hardly enough to portray their skills in the field.

"Well, it's your call." Tychus backed off after sending Jean another glare. He was a criminal, not a commander. Thinking was too complicated for someone like him. All he needed to do was let Raynor do the thinking and do what Raynor told him to do.

The leaders of the Raiders stood there in complete silence, draining their brains to find a way for more money. They were stuck in a circle. In order to earn money, they needed to do missions. However, they didn't have the ammunition to do missions, which meant they needed money to buy ammunition, and they didn't have the money…

Jean went through the memory in her head. The Supreme One sent her everything that has happened and would happen in the future in this universe. She knew things that, if she had an army, she could abuse. Unfortunately, she was stuck in a small rebel team that had just a single battlecruiser and a couple hundred infantry units that were almost out of bullets.

Suddenly, the main computer in the bridge started beeping. Horner frowned and tapped a few keys on the computer, and a video popped up on the screen.

It was a man with dark skin. His hair was tied into countless small strands that reminded Jean of Medusa in Greek mythology. His eyes were blue. Jean sensed a dangerous feeling from him. She felt like he was a beast that was ready to fight and kill anytime, anywhere, and anyone.

"I hear the mighty Jim Raynor is on the move, but short on funds. The planet Redstone's got the most valuable minerals around, and with the zerg invasion, the Kel-Morians packed up and left it all behind. It's supposed to be a secret, but unfortunately for the Kel-Morians, they met the wrong pirate. Some enterprising men could turn a big profit there. Meet me at Redstone if you want a piece of the action. Here are the coordinates." A series of numbers appeared on the screen. Jean copied them down.

"What do you need us to do?" Raynor frowned. This was too good of a deal. From what the man, Tosh, said, all the Raiders needed to do was bring a few SCVs and they could just get rich minerals for free. Why would he do that? SCV for hire could be found anywhere in Deadman's port, and pretty much in every mercenary bar in the sector. If Tosh had information about Redstone, why didn't he just hire some SCVs himself and went to Redstone to mine? Individual SCVs were much cheaper than Raynor's Raiders.

There was no response.

"Hey? Can you hear me?" Raynor repeated. "Hey?"

The bridge went silent for a minute before Jean finally spoke.

"Ahh, sir?"

"Yes?"

"This is a recording, not a transmission."

Raynor turned and looked at Horner and Hanson, whose faces were turning red as they tried to stop themselves from bursting off into laughers.

The rebel commander shrugged as laughers covered the bridge.


	6. Chapter 6

The Raiders bid farewell to the colonists and Hanson before sending them out in the transports they came here in. Most of the colonists and half the militias left, but half the militias remained. Approximately fifty young men added to the Raiders. That might be the only consolation of the Raiders that fell on the farming planet.

Now more desperate than ever for money, the Raiders jumped to the coordinate Tosh gave them without wasting another second.

"SIr, scanners show this place is clear." As The Hyperion appeared, Horner glanced at a computer screen before reporting.

The Raiders knew nothing about Tosh. They had no reason to trust him. As far as they knew, the man might be a Dominion agent and the coordinates he gave them might be a trap. As far as they knew, they might exit warp space and find themselves in the middle of an entire fleet of Dominion ships.

Horner made preparations. The defensive matrix on The Hyperion could be activated with the press of a button. When activated, the matrix generator would form a layer of green shield around The Hyperion, protecting the vessel from any foreign attack. Only equipped on the largest terran ships, they might be the difference between life and death. If this was indeed a trap, the defensive matrix could buy enough time for the second item to be utilized.

The second item was a backup warp drive. They jumped here with the primary warp drive and exhausted the device, but the secondary drive could bring the ship to the assigned coordinates, which belonged to Deadman's Port. The combination of the two should be able to get the Raiders out to safety if this turned out to be a trap. The energy in the ship would be more exhausted than before, but the potential reward was worth the risk.

Just like Jean realized, Horner was a good commander. His cautious and experience were the two things that held the Raiders together at their lowest point.

Now that the scene was safe, Horner let out a breath of relief. If the Dominion fleet wasn't here before The Hyperion jumped in, then it was almost impossible that they would arrive _after_ The Hyperion was already there. This was because how warp drives work. Warping ships could be detected by ships already in the area, but the warping ship itself couldn't detect what was on the other end of the jump. In other words, if the Dominion fleet tried to jump in after The Hyperion was already in the airspace, then The Hyperion would detect the warp signals as soon as they started jumping and pack up and run while the Dominion ships were still in warp space.

A transmission request appeared on the computer screen. Raynor pressed a key, and the face of the man that invited them here appeared on the screen.

"Good to see you made it. They call me Tosh. You help me mine the minerals I need, and I'll make it worth your while."

"What's the catch?" Raynor asked suspiciously.

"Well, this place is a little...unstable. The low ground gets flooded with lava every few minutes. Of course that's where the richest mineral nodes are found, but that'll be no problem for a big tough guy like you." Tosh explained in his typical creepy deep voice.

Jean knew why Raynor was suspicious. She saw the reward Tosh promised. In exchange for Raynor giving Tosh a certain amount of minerals, Raynor could have all the minerals left on the planet. Tosh would also pay Raynor a large sum of credit. That was a deal way too good for the Raiders.

Raynor wasn't foolish enough to think Tosh was an idiot. His action had a reason, and before Raynor found out what that was, he wouldn't trust the mysterious man.

Jean knew what Tosh was actually planning. A former Dominion ghost betrayed by Arcturus Mengsk, Gabriel Tosh was the head of Project Shadowblade, an operation to use terrazine to enhance ghost powers and turn them into more powerful spectres. Unfortunately, most of his spectres were captured by Dominion forces and thrown into the top secret New Folsom Prison. Tosh was a stealth assassin, not a fleet commander. He was an expert in terms of infiltration and assassination, but he wasn't exactly an expert in terms of commanding large armies. Thus, he needed someone experienced in the art of war to help him. That person also needed to have an army and wasn't afraid to go up against Mengsk.

Who was a better choice than the infamous Jim Raynor? Everything the man did, including giving the Raiders countless resources for free, was for that purpose.

Of course, technically she wasn't supposed to know that, so she remained as quiet as everyone else as the transmission was ended.

"Sir?" Horner looked at his commander for instructions. He was the captain of the ship, but he voluntarily obeyed Raynor.

"I will take a command center and half our boys to the planet below. When we get there, we'll start mining. Matt, stay in The Hyperion and stay alert. We don't know what this Tosh guy is up to."

"What should I do?" Jean asked.

"Stay on the ship and keep your eyes peeled. I might need you to command the soldiers on the ground if things go wrong." Raynor said as he started to walk out the door. Unlike Agria, this time Raynor could handle things himself, at least for now. There were some zerg, but they were weak and scattered. The broodmother on the planet, if there was one, should be more worried about being attacked rather than attacking. Even if the zerg were foolish enough to make a move, the Hyperion could put down whatever attempt the zerg might try.

Raynor wasn't worried about the zerg. He was worried about Tosh, and the Raiders he brought were mainly meant to guard whatever trick the man might have up his sleeves. If he could, he would bring all the infantry, but he only had a limited amount of ammunition. Half the men meant twice the durability.

Jean nodded as the commanders moved to their respective positions.

* * *

The command center and nearly one hundred Raiders landed on one of the high grounds on the planet. All of the infantry forces were elite soldiers to maximize the battle capabilities of the small army. SCVs poured out and started collecting minerals and returning them to the command center while the infantry patrolled the area. In the air, The Hyperion stared down vigilantly, ready to rain down death, cheap death, but still death, on whatever enemy that might appear.

As Raynor walked out of a dropship, he heard a marine speaking in the comm.

"Sir, unidentified terran forces incoming on the right." The man hesitated. "There are twenty units of...reapers?" He said, unsure.

Raynor touched his gauss rifle and walked forward. A distance away, twenty men in jetpack moved toward their position with incredible speed. Leading them was a man with dark skin and snake-like hair. Unlike his followers, he didn't have a jetpack, but he had no problem keeping up with his bare foot. He wore a thin layer of specialized suit and carried an AGR-28 gauss rifle on his back.

"Raynor." Tosh said with a wide smile. "You boys look good. How do you like my reapers?" He pointed at the men behind him.

Reapers were specialized terran infantry raiders. Ideally, they were armed with jetpacks, stimpacks, combat drugs, KD-8 charges, and G-4 cluster bombs. The heavy masks covered their bloodthirsty expression.

Reapers were the worst of the worst. Crooks and criminals, they were seen among mercenaries and pirates more than they were seen in standard armies. However, there was a reason almost all the terran factions in the sectors had a reaper corps. The evilness of the reapers was only matched by their skills.

Reapers were hit and run units. In a face to face fight, a single marine could gun a single reaper down. However, in most cases, you would never find a line of reapers exchanging bullets with a line of marines. The reapers would run as far away as possible when the marines were ready, and they would return when the marines were scattered and relaxed. Their P-45 gauss pistols could take a few marine's heads off. When the standard troopers gather together and seek retaliation, the reapers would disengage immediately with their jetpacks and stim packs. If the condition permits, the reapers would throw out a few KD-8 charges and blow their enemies' formation up. The few unlucky victims that were bounced toward the reapers would be picked off mercilessly.

When they were facing buildings, reapers would unleash destruction with the G-4 cluster bombs. Even if they were injured, combat drugs could boost the regenerative potential of the reapers and return a wounded man to full health in just seconds. There were side effects, not that reapers lived long enough to see them. In extreme cases, reapers that ran out of ammo could even melee enemy units. Usually that didn't end well, but that was beside the point.

Every reaper was a bad-ass, and mercenary reapers were the best of the best. By the looks of it, the reapers behind Tosh weren't normal mercenaries either.

Raynor knew that as well as he opened the visor of his helmet. "They look solid." He turned his attention back to the task at hand. "My boys are working on the minerals right now."

"Good." Tosh nodded, not really caring. He was after much more than a few mineral clusters.

Raynor bit his lips, but he couldn't help but to raise the question that has been bothering him for quite a while. "I don't get it. You have the coordinates of this planet. It's not hard to hire a group of SCVs in Deadman's Port. Why do you need us?"

"I'm banned from Deadman's Port. A few local mercenaries thought I was too dangerous." Tosh dodged the question, and Raynor couldn't help but wonder what type of person would be considered too dangerous by Deadman's Port mercenaries who were, in many cases, the meaning of danger.

"You didn't answer my question." He repeated.

A reaper behind Tosh groaned impatiently. Raynor was unmoved. Tosh was mysterious and his reapers were deadly, but his men weren't for show either. His marines might not be as skilled as the reapers, but they had five times the number. Plus, the Behemoth battlecruiser in the air could deal with a few infantry units with ease. If this mystery remained, Raynor felt like he was putting the lives of his men at risk.

Tosh glared at the impatient reaper, and the man backed off. Raynor swore he saw a sense of fear from the man. Not showing any emotion, Tosh turned back to Raynor.

"I have heard a lot about you, Raynor. You are one of the most determined enemies of Mengsk." He smirked at the emperor's name. "It just so happens that so am I."

"You purpose an alliance?" Raynor rose his eyebrows.

"I'm just helping a brother out," Tosh flicked his fingers. "and one day, I may need a favor from a brother as well."

He was hinting of something, something Raynor didn't know, but the reason Tosh gave was enough to support his actions. Raynor didn't trust Tosh completely, but he didn't ask any more question as the mining continued.

For the rest of the mission, the SCV worked in peace. Occasionally they would need to retreat to high grounds because of the lava, but that was hardly a problem thanks to the sensors of The Hyperion. The zerg on the planet didn't make any resemblance of an attack. Finally, thirty hours later, every mineral within the two hundred kilometer radius was collected. A portion of them was given to Tosh while the others were stored in the Raider command center. The building was filled up and dropships had to be used to ferry the minerals to The Hyperion.

In one sentence, the Raiders were rich.

With money in hand, Raynor's depressed frown was turned to a wide grin. "Do you need a transport?" He looked at Tosh and his reapers and proposed generously.

"Don't you worry about us. I have everything planned." Tosh smiled. "You don't need to mine off everything from this planet. You can't. The Kel-Morians spent years and the planet is still covered in gold." He paused and looked at Raynor meaningfully. "The Kel-Morians that mined here were silenced, permanently. You and I are the only two people that know the coordinates of this place. I will remain quiet about this, so you can return here whenever you need cash."

Raynor was truly impressed by Tosh's offer. Redstone held hundreds of thousands of units of minerals. From what Tosh told him, ever since it was discovered, the planet had been mined off for decades, and yet only a small portion of the minerals it held was taken. If the Raiders could establish an outpost here and continuously mine off it, they would have a permanent source of income.

That amount of minerals could build up a fleet, and by giving Raynor the coordinates of the planet and promising him not to tell anyone about it, Tosh was pretty much giving Raynor a fleet.

If Tosh gave that amount of resources to Raynor, what could he possibly want in return?

"Why are you so generous?" The rebel commander couldn't help but ask as his men started entering the transports.

Tosh grinned. "I will contact you when I need you."

"Fair enough." Raynor nodded before going on a dropship. As the Raiders left, Tosh watched the ships with a wide smirk.


	7. Chapter 7

With money in his pocket, Raynor decided the Raiders' next destination without much hesitation.

"Matt, set the coordinates to Deadman's Port." The large man smiled as the younger captain suddenly had an awkward look. "We'll be visiting your wife."

Mira Han was one of the most influential people in Deadman's Port. Mira's Marauders was one of the top mercenary forces in the port and was an impressive faction in the sector as a whole. From something as insignificant as marines and reapers to something as menacing and expensive as battlecruisers and space stations, Mira could provide anything the Raiders might need.

That wasn't what attracted the Raiders to Mira. What made Mira the best ally of the rebel faction was the favor Mira had toward the captain of The Hyperion. Legend says that Horner won Mira in a poker game, and the two were technically married. With this connection present, Mira became one of the most loyal and powerful allies of the Raiders.

The husband wasn't as satisfied by the event as the wife was. Despite having a way of communication, Horner never contacted Han and tried to stay away from her whenever The Hyperion was forced to land in Deadman's Port. Obviously, he wasn't too satisfied to go to the practical home of the mercenary leader.

Still, Horner was never someone who would allow his own interest to threaten the well being of the Raiders. Without much delay, The Hyperion jumped to the mercenary port.

* * *

"Matthew, you finally decided to visit me." Mira's soft voice echoed through the bridge, but no one would be foolish enough to underestimate her because of that. There was a reason she received death sentence in twelve star systems.

Horner already went behind the computer screen when the transmission was turned on, and Raynor was the one doing the talking.

"Mira, I want to buy something from you." Raynor said with a tone he never used before. It was the tone of a rich customer.

Mira rose her eyebrows. "Someone's made a fortune. What do you want? I am sending you the menu now." She tapped a key and a file appeared on the computer screen in front of Raynor. "Of course, if you can bring Horner to me, I can give you a 10% off discount."

Raynor struggled to hide a smile, but as he looked at Horner, who was shaking his head like crazy, and decided to ignore the offer. "I will send you my purchases." He said to Mira and turned off the comm.

As Matthew Horner took a deep breath and walked out from behind the screen, the leaders of the Raiders started to discuss what to buy.

Raynor, Horner, Jean, and Swann were standing around the hologram projector and went through the file Mira sent them. Tychus didn't care about these type of calculations and Stetmann was more of a scientist than a commander.

Mira offered two types of service.

In the first type, the Raiders could buy weapons and armors. For example, they could buy a set of marine gadgets and put their own men inside them. The benefit was that the gadgets were cheaper than the alternative option, and the men inside were more loyal to Raynor than anyone else. The problem was that the Raiders had to find a man to put inside the CMC armor and had to afford the training of the man. If that man was a recruit, he would also lack experience and would take a while to be a fully functional elite marine.

In the second type of deal, Raynor could hire mercenaries. These mercenaries would be armed with their own weapons and armors. They were experienced and largely fearless. The benefit was that they could be an instant army. The problem was that the loyalty of these men was...debatable. They were loyal to either Mira or money or both. The chance of them defecting or just generally speaking leaving when the alternative was death was great. In one sentence, they couldn't be trusted.

"I have counted the minerals mined. We have around 21000 units of minerals after paying Tosh 6000 units. Tosh also paid us 10,000 credits." Horner pulled up a file of numbers.

"We need around 3000 minerals to replenish the ammunition and the energy of our established forces and ships." Swann explained.

Raynor swiped on the projection, and the 21000 was turned to 18000.

Jean thought about it for a while before finally speaking.

"I think we should approach this in multiple ways. First, we can hire some of Mira's Marauders. They should be reliable in most cases."

Raynor nodded. "Keep going."

"Second, we should hire some mercenaries from mercenary groups that are not Mira's Marauders."

"Why?" Swann couldn't help but ask. He was a good engineer, but not a good tactician.

"To make sure Mira's Marauders will not be too powerful. If half of our army is made up of Mira's men and something goes wrong, whether it is because Mira or the lieutenant on our side or some other reason, we will not become sitting ducks. If we have some other mercenary forces on our ship, they are more likely to stand with us if things go wrong." Horner explained while throwing a praising gaze at Jean. A good commander would never put all the eggs in one basket.

"Third, we should buy heavy mechanical units that don't require many men to control but are much more effective than infantry units, whether they are goliaths or vikings, or even siege tanks." Jean continued calmly and patiently. "We have trouble finding reliable recruits to join our cause, so it's wiser to spend those that did join us on mech units than infantry units."

Raynor nodded, satisfied. "This may be the best course of action." Suddenly, he realized maybe he wasn't that rich after all. "How should we split our minerals?"

Horner tapped a series of keys on the computer screen, and three menus were opened up simultaneously on the hologram projection. Mira's forces were on the left and were examined by Horner. Other mercenary forces were in the middle and were went through by Jean. Armors for purchase were on the right and were checked out by Swann. The three men and one woman stood around the screens and analyzed the choices.

"Check this out," After a few minutes, Horner suddenly spoke. Jean looked over as the man pulled out a profile.

"Mercenary reapers. Differentiated from standard reapers by weapon, armor, and a function called jetpack overdrive that allows the reapers to temporarily fly. LD-9 Cluster charges are more useful than normal KD-8 charges." Jean read out the description before checking the price. "50 units for 5000 minerals. 10 minerals for every unit every week. That's expensive, but judging from the description these reapers should be worth their price." Reapers were specialized units, and when used well, they could be potentially deadly.

Raynor nodded and agreed with the choice as he subtracted the minerals from the 18000 minerals, returning the number to 13000.

Jean went back to going through the mercenaries and found someone she favored.

She pulled up two files.

"War Pigs. Elite marines. A squad of 20 requires 1000 minerals for the initial contract. 5 minerals every week." Raynor knew the power of war pigs. At one point he was almost assassinated by them. They were one of the most reliable mercenary groups in the sector.

"Hammer Security. Elite marauders. A squad of 10 requires 1000 minerals for the initial contract. 10 minerals every week." Hammer securities were generally hired by corporates to protect their interest, but that didn't mean they were soft in a frontal combat with the protoss or the zerg.

"Five squads of war pigs and three squads of hammer securities should be enough." Jean announced as she did the math. "100 war pigs and 30 hammer securities can be a powerful force against whoever we will face later. They also have a reputation of staying loyal to those that hired them."

Raynor nodded. 13000 was turned to 5000. Finally, he turned to the chief engineer, who had been quiet the entire time.

"Swann?" The large man didn't answer, and Raynor repeated. "Swann?"

"Huh? Oh." Swann was snapped out of his mind wondering. He quickly pulled up a few files. "I say we buy some vikings and goliath. These bad boys can gun down any enemy. Vikings without pilots cost 500 minerals and goliaths cost 300 minerals. I promise you they are worth the money."

Vikings were fighters with two modes. In fighter mode, they could use their lanzer torpedoes to gun down enemy fighters and ships in the air as well as bombard enemies on the ground. In assault mode, their Gatling cannons could rip through anything that didn't have half their body covered in armor.

Goliaths were support units. Autocannons could take down ground enemies and hellfire missiles could blow up air oppositions. Compared to vikings, they had more firepower but were less flexible.

5 vikings and 5 goliaths brought the mineral count down to 1000. That was the point where any less mineral storage might be dangerous.

As the decision was made, Raynor filed the demand to Mira about the mercenary reapers and the mech. "Graven has some connection with the local mercenaries. I will let him submit a contract. Swann, refill the ammunition. Anything else?"

The others shook their head and left the bridge as Raynor headed for the cantine.


	8. Chapter 8

Jean sat in front of a table in her own room, all alone. She wore a casual black tank top and had her hair scattered on her back. Her fingers tapped on her lips as she sunk deep in her thoughts.

The Hyperion was still in Deadman's Port. The mechanical gadgets have been purchased and delivered to the armory. Jean hasn't seen Swann outside the armory since then. Mira delivered the 50 units of mercenary reapers to The Hyperion already. The war pigs were here as well, as shown by the now fully occupied cantine, but the thirty hammer security personnel were still absent.

That was one of the major reasons why The Hyperion was still in the dock instead of on a new mission.

Jean decided to use the free time to go over her plans for the future.

Her final objective was the death of Amon.

Who was Amon?

Amon was a xel'naga. Xel'naga were the creators of both the protoss and the zerg. With almost invincible psionic power and earth shattering physical strength, they were practically gods.

The xel'naga stuck to a belief called the infinite cycle, which encouraged them to travel to different universes and spread life. After the two races, the purity of form and the purity of essence, were created, the xel'naga would no longer intervene what happens in the material world. On one side, this belief allowed the life in the universe to grow without intervention. On the other side, this meant the xel'naga, despite having the power of god, couldn't use it.

Most of the xel'naga stayed true to their cause, but there was dissent. Amon was the leader of the opposition. In one swift betrayal and supported by some followers, he waged war against those that refused to join him. In the end, Amon was defeated. His body was destroyed and his conscious was sent back to the void. Ever since then, he plotted for a chance to return to the material world.

As a god who lived for millions of years, Amon had countless tricks up his xel'naga sleeve.

First, the Daelaam. The Daelaam protoss, the protoss faction that survived the Brood War, was one of the most powerful factions in the sector. They suffered huge losses during the war against the zerg and the UED, but even with just a skeleton of its former strength, the Daelaam was still enough to wipe out fleets with absolute ease. The Golden Armada, a fleet composed of both Aiur and Nerazim ships designed to retake Aiur, was one of the most powerful fleets in the sector. The Dominion Fleet was like a child against the Golden Armada.

Jean knew from her memory that a while into the future Amon would control all the Aiur warriors via the shared psychic network, the Khala, Daelaam protoss had. A few protoss, including hierarch Artanis, managed to sever their nerve cords and be cut off from the Khala and thus Amon, but most of the Golden Armada fell. In the original history, the Golden Armada would remain as one of the sharpest blades of Amon until they were finally freed in the battle of Aiur.

Second, the Tal'darim. Taken away from Aiur during the war among the xel'nagas by Amon himself, the Tal'darim were a group of fanatics that worshipped Amon as a god.

The Tal'darim were known as "The Forged." Their social structure was much crueler compared to the Daelaam. The Tal'darim believed in survival of the strongest, and every Tal'darim was a fearless warrior as the weaker ones were already gone. The Tal'darim Death Fleet was as menacing as its name suggested. In the original world, the Tal'darim, under Highlord Ma'lash, would sweep through the sector and spread death and destruction to everyone they came across. That should be ended by a power struggle that ended Ma'lash's rule and turned the Tal'darim against Amon, but before that the Death Fleet was one of Amon's top warriors. Given the circumstance and the influence of the dark god, it said something about the power of the Tal'darim.

Third, the hybrids. Since a while ago, Amon sent his xel'naga follower, Narud, into the material world. Narud had several aliases through the Brood War, but for now, he was Doctor Emil Narud, the head of the Moebius Foundation. With the support of Dominion Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk, Narud was able to conduct experiments on combining protoss and zerg powers. The result was the hybrids. Built after the image of the xel'naga, hybrids had a combination of protoss psionic power and zerg physical might. Jean didn't know how powerful hybrids were in real combat, but she knew damn well a couple hundred mercenaries couldn't do anything about these beasts.

Fourth, the Moebius Foundation. A research facility, the Moebius Foundation hired its own paramilitary forces, the Moebius Corps. They consisted of both mercenaries and security units. Armed with the best equipment and blessed with the best training, the Moebius Corps was a powerful presence. When Amon broke his cover and launched war on all lifeforms of the sector, the Moebius Corps would fall at the hands of the hybrids they created. Ordinary terran stood no chance against the psionic power of the hybrids as their minds were filled with an ultimate desire for death. Fearless and elite, the Moebius Foundation would join force with other Amon's forces to destroy the sector.

Fifth, Amon's Brood. Amon enslaved individual broods that were scattered across the sector after the death of the Overmind. These zerg weren't as evolved or mutated as the best zerg factions like Kerrigan's brood. They were weaker in quality compared to Amon's other followers, but they did have the numbers to make up for that.

Ok. Now that the enemy forces were analyzed, it was time for Jean to check out what she had.

One out dated Behemoth battlecruisers. A couple hundred mercenaries who she wasn't the commander of. One emotionless girl.

Sounds fair.

Jean started thinking. She needed to do two things: Strengthen herself and weaken the enemy.

Strengthen herself: Raynor's Raiders was a good place to start. From what Jean knew, Raynor would come across a lot of allies as he made his way to the final battle on Char. Tosh, for one thing, was a powerful ally. His spectres were corrupted by Amon due to their intake of terrazine and later joined the Moebius Corps, but they should be a powerful group of special forces units before that. Mira Han and Valerian Mengsk were influential as well. Mira had a fleet, and Valerian was Arcturus Mengsk's son and the crown prince of the Terran Dominion. In the future, he would take over the Dominion after his father's death at the hand of Sarah Kerrigan. The Dominion Fleet wasn't as strong as the Death Fleet or the Golden Armada, but they were not for show either. The power of terran technology should never be underestimated.

Of course, that wasn't enough. In the original history, even at the very end when Raynor turned Kerrigan back to human, Raynor's Raiders was still nothing but a small group of rebels. They didn't have a fleet. They didn't even have more than two battlecruisers.

Jean needed to change that. She needed to build her own army and her own fleet. The Raiders was a good place to begin with, but Jean needed to do much more than simply be a lieutenant if she wanted to complete her mission. Granted, in the original history, Amon was destroyed, but Jean wasn't going to sit back and hope Amon would eventually die.

Jean tapped a piece of paper on the desk.

She needed an army that obeyed the order of her and her alone. She was nobody, so the ideal scenario was for her to stay among the Raiders while secretly turning more and more Raiders from Raynor's men to hers. That way, the stronger the Raiders become, the stronger her forces would be. In the end, when she needed to, she could make Raynor meet an accident and find herself as the commander of the Raiders.

In order to do that, she would need to make Raynor's Raiders more and more powerful while climbing up the chain of command herself.

That also reminded Jean of another thing. She held out her wrist and looked down at the silver watch.

The silver watch was the only thing she received from the so-called the Supreme One. It was more than an announcer of her mission. From the memory she received, Jean knew the watch could also function as a storage device.

Apparently, the watch was connected to some sort of private space that only Jean could access. She could throw whatever object she had into her watch and take them out whenever she needed to. Jean glanced at the paper and pointed her watch at it while thinking inside what she wanted. The next second the paper disappeared.

Jean closed her eyes and let her thoughts flow to the watch. She couldn't see anything, but she could sense what was in her watch. A piece of paper laid there peacefully.

Jean knew the storage space in her watch could be carried with her wherever she went. This universe was just her first stop, and she would eventually leave. When she did, the only units she could bring would be the ones she had in her watch.

The watch could only store non-living objects, so as for now Jean could only use it to smuggle a few weapons, but that might change in the future.

There were a lot of units in this universe that weren't living. For example, the protoss Purifiers were a group of mechanical units controlled by AI conscious. Jean hasn't tried before, but there was a reason for her to think they could be put into her watch.

Sure, Jean didn't have the Purifiers now, but these robot warriors opened up a new path for her: Could she build an army of AIs programmed to obey her? They could be put into her watch and could be taken out whenever she needed to. Plus, she could tell the idea to the rest of the Raider leaders and paint it as a path to victory. One of the Raiders' problem was the lack of men. Mercenaries were unreliable, and loyal men and women willing to die for freedom were rare and usually unskilled. If the Raiders could build an army of AI warriors, then the only limit to their forces would be the amount of resources they had. They would be like the zerg: As long as the resources were in place, the AI forces would be endless.

Of course, Jean knew things wouldn't be this easy, but she silently took down some notes in her mind before turning her attention to the second part of her plan.

How to weaken Amon's forces.

First, the Daelaam. Jean knew there was very little she could do to warn the Daelaam protoss. The khala was a part of their religion for tens of thousands of years. If she walked up to a protoss and told him one day the khala would be corrupted, the templar would draw his blades and strike her down for heresy. She had no way of proving her words to Daelaam hierarch Artanis.

However, she could try to warn Dark Prelate Zeratul. Zeratul was a dark templar who first realized Amon's presence. He was also a friend of Artanis. If she could tell what Zeratul what she knew, he might be able to warn the Daelaam.

Then again, it was possible the Daelaam were too stubborn to listen. After all, the firstborn considered themselves children of god. If that was the case, then the Daelaam would surely become pawns of Amon, and Jean would have no choice but to weaken them as much as possible and destroy them if situation permits.

In the original history Artanis, with the help of the Nerazim, the Purifiers, and the Tal'darim, were able to trap Amon's presence with a keystone and banish Amon into the void by severing the nerve cord of the templars, but that was hardly possible in real life. The Golden Armada could blast any opposition away before any attempt of resistance could be formed.

The Tal'darim social structure made them deadly, but Jean keenly sensed an opportunity. In the Tal'darim world, the Highlord had all the power. The sense of obedience of lower Tal'darim warriors was even stronger than their loyalty toward Amon. In the original history, after Alarak became the Highlord, he was able to turn the entire Death Fleet against Amon. The millions of years of absolute faith was wiped out as the entire Death Fleet went after Amon.

If Jean could abuse that, she might be able to turn the Tal'darim to her side even earlier than in the original history. Of course, in order to do that, she needed someone on the inside. That might be difficult, but Jean remembered to search for opportunities to accomplish that.

If Jean could find a way to destroy the Moebius Foundation, she might be able to end both Narud, the hybrids, and the Moebius Corps. That was not going to be easy, but it was nonetheless a possibility.

Jean didn't know an easy way to deal with Amon's Brood, but an army should be enough.

Of course, all the possibilities and plans Jean listed were nothing but thoughts. She would need an army to put them in place, and in order to do that, she needed to play the part of a normal, trustworthy lieutenant.

As Jean finished her thoughts, the computer screen on a table started to blink. Jean typed a few keys, and the projection of the mechanical adjutant appeared.

"Lieutenant Turner. Your presence is required in the bridge."

"What is it?"

"The hammer securities have arrived. Commander Raynor is requesting a meeting to discuss the further objectives of the Raiders."

Jean nodded and started changing.


	9. Chapter 9

When Jean entered the bridge, most of the others were already there. Even Swann was here. The frown on his face told Jean he wasn't happy to be dragged out of the armory and into this meeting. The big blue figure was present as well.

"All the mech are now manned." Swann said. He was tired, but his spirit was up. "The vikings can't transform in combat, but they should still be able to enter assault mode in a relatively peaceful condition." It required a lot of experience for viking pilots to safely complete a transformation from fighter mode to assault mode in the midst of combat. Experienced pilots could land on smaller units, like marines and zerglings, and crush them alive. Some pilots could even lift off into the air to dodge Ultalisks blades. The marine turned pilots didn't have that kind of experience, at least not yet.

"Good." Raynor nodded. "All the mercenaries are in place as well."

"You know, Jimmy, it is going to be a waste to have such a powerful army and just sit back." The only person in the bridge that would talk to Raynor this way was Tychus Findlay.

Raynor didn't feel offended of being called by his nickname in front of his officers. "What are you saying?"

"Remember the job I talked about earlier? The one about the protoss artifact? Now we can grab it." Tychus glanced at Jean as it was her that stopped him last time he suggested it. "Am I right, girl?"

Jean saw the grudge from Tychus, but she wasn't worried. Tychus by himself wasn't a threat, and Raynor wouldn't alienate her just because of a few words from his friend. "I don't know the exact defenses on that planet, but if the protoss defending the artifact are fanatics as you said, then there should be an army protecting the place. I don't think we have the men to defeat the defenses in a straight up fight, and even if we can we will take heavy losses, but we might be able to sneak in, grab the artifact, and get out without engaging the defenders." She looked at Raynor. "We should do this"

Raynor nodded. He was really enjoying letting Jean do all the thinking and talking. Horner was better at dealing with ships. Swann was an engineer. Tychus had more brawn than brain. Raynor himself could do tactics if he needed to, but he wasn't an expert. Jean might be the best tactician in the room.

"Matt, set the coordinates to Monlyth."

* * *

Monlyth.

The planet was just one of the many forest planets in the entire sector. Perhaps the only thing that made it special was the piece of xel'naga Keystone it held.

The Tal'darim worshipped Amon, and they safeguarded everything that was crafted by xel'naga hand. The Keystone was one of such things. Of course, the entire Keystone wasn't here, or else the entire Death Fleet would be on Monlyth as well. For some reason, the Keystone was broken into four pieces. These four pieces were stored on four different planets. Monlyth was one of these planets.

The Keystone fragments were put under the protection of Sixth Ascendant Nyon. In the Tal'darim society, the Highlord was the absolute leader. He had the authority to command and punish anyone of the lower ranks as he pleased. In the time of crisis, the Highlord could summon and command the Death Fleet.

The Ascendants were lower than the Highlord but were above pretty much everyone else. The First Ascendant was lower than the Highlord but higher than everyone else, including the Second Ascendant. This chain of command continued down the line. The ascendants had their own fleets and followers. Sometimes lesser ascendants would pledge their loyalty to higher ascendants in exchange for protection or resources.

Usually, these lower ascendants would have their own armies as well. Their forces tend to be smaller than those of the upper ascendants, or else they would no longer be lower ascendants. Sometimes the upper ascendants would merge their underlings' forces into their own fleets. Other times they might send the underlings to different missions.

In the case of Monlyth, Sixth Ascendant Nyon dispatched a few ascendants and their forces to protect their fragment of the xel'naga Keystone.

In the space above Monlyth, a small Tal'darim fleet endlessly patrolled the area. Consisted of one carrier, three destroyers, and twenty phoenixes, the fleet was enough to deal with most enemies that dared set their eyes on the work of god. The small fragment of red was so small in the endless depth of space, but this small fragment of ships could end fleets ten times their size.

Unfortunately, the enemy they would be facing wasn't included in the "most enemies" category.

All of the carriers and destroyers were piloted by ascendants. Due to the nature of the Tal'darim society, the carrier pilot was higher in status than the destroyer pilots.

That was why when a massive amount of warp signals appeared in the space a distance away from Monlyth, the carrier pilot started giving orders.

"All ships prepare for battle!" The ascendant said loudly. In the face of an enemy force dozens of times their size, the Tal'darim didn't have a single sense of fear. If anything, he was thrilled.

To a Tal'darim, there was nothing better than a glorious death, especially if the warrior died fighting for god.

Of course, the ascendant didn't climb to his rank by being stupid. He glanced at the sensors and saw 20 warp signals. In most cases, only capital ships had warp drives. Twenty capital ships, wherever they came from and whoever they were, were much more than the several capital and medium sized ships could handle. They could fight and die, but their sacrifice wouldn't change the results.

As his warriors readied themselves for war, the ascendant took out a comm device.

"Ascendant Dyges…"

* * *

The Keystone was put in an open field. Four giant statues stood tall around the fragment.

A Tal'darim with red armor was standing in front of the Keystone. His eyes were shining red light, a result of his intake and usage of the crimson void energy. Two sharp spikes enough to stab a human being clean through extended off his shoulder platings. His legs weren't touching the ground. In fact, his entire body was floating in the air.

The ascendant was looking at the Keystone.

Not all ascendants were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to guard a piece of god's artifact. It was an honor, and he felt honored by Nyon's decision to entrust him with this sacred duty. This amount of trust could only be repaid by his absolute devotion.

The ascendant's fist suddenly went tight.

The only problem with this mission was its boringness. Instead of fighting against enemies like the Daelaam or the zerg, he and his warriors had to stay here on a planet where no enemy would be foolish enough to attack. Without an enemy, he couldn't prove his bravery to his people and gain the honor he deserved. He could fortify the planet as much as he wanted to, but a thousand years of planning the defenses wasn't enough to match the glory of one victory. A part of him was hoping for an enemy to jump in and attack the Keystone so he could defeat them in combat.

This was not an odd prayer among the Tal'darim, and today every Tal'darim that wished for combat would be satisfied.

The communication device of ascendant Dyges started blinking, and the Tal'darim commander retreated from the Keystone and turned to his trusted lieutenant.

"Ascendant Guris, you better have a good reason for contacting me." Guris was the commander of the fleet whereas Dyges was the commander of the ground forces. Dyges was technically the commander of the overall defenses of the artifact, but Guris didn't really respect him. With the latter having command over the fleet, Dyges had no choice but to act like he didn't see the disrespect in the lower ascendant's every move. Of course, that didn't mean Dyges would talk to Guris with a smile on.

"Ascendant Dyges, twenty warp signals have appeared close to the planet. I am preparing my warriors for battle, but we don't have the numbers." Guris was too occupied to respond to the resentment from his competitor.

"What are you suggesting?" Dyges frowned. Combat was good. Victory was better. Defeat, on the other hand, was not exactly a good proof of strength. He wasn't worried about the safety of himself. He was worried about the possession of the Keystone.

Nyon trusted him to guard the piece of artifact. He couldn't lose it. He simply couldn't.

As Dyges was thinking, the fleet commander was still talking.

"I will engage the enemy fleet when it comes out of warp space. I suggest you use that chance to prepare for a ground assault. The Keystone must not be lost." Guris said with absolute determination.

"I understand. For the Highlord. For Amon." Dyges nodded. Their competition was nothing when the honor of their god was at risk. They would gladly drop their grudges and give their lives for the greater good.

"For Amon." Guris shut the communication device and turned back to the battlefield. The few Tal'darim ships have already formed a formation. The twenty phoenixes were scattered out so they could maximize their speed and agility. The carrier was in the center so it could unleash and control its interceptors as safely as possible. The three destroyers were a short distance away from the warp signals. Their destruction beams could be turned on with a single command.

In front of them, twenty leviathans appeared out of nowhere.

Their purple carapace shined in the distant light.

* * *

On the surface, Dyges groaned as he sensed the twenty zerg leviathans that just exited warp space. The amount of zerg these ships carried was much more than what the Tal'darim forces on the planet could hold.

"Supplicant!" Wasting no time, he cried out.

"My master?" A Tal'darim with an armor shiner than normal Tal'darim zealots walked in.

A common thing in this universe was the presence of a small squad of elite warriors for every commander. Usually every commander, whether it was terran, protoss, or zerg, would have direct command over a squad of specialized units. These units were usually tightly connected to the said commander, whether it was via money, past connections, or blackmail. Apart from being reliable, they tend to be experienced, well trained, and well armed. They would stick to the orders of their commanders more than that from anyone else.

In peaceful times, these units would act as bodyguards of the commander. In times of war, they would act both as the guards of the commander and as a potentially decisive factor in the battle. A small group of elite forces put to a good position could potentially change the tide of war.

This was a reoccurring theme seen through the sector. For example, Raynor had his group of old buddies from Mar Sara. They were, for now, under the command of Matthew Horner, but if they had to make a choice they would follow the orders of Raynor over that of anyone else. Tosh had a group of reapers that would kill for him. His spectres would also die for him.

Another example, the name of all of Mira's forces, Mira's Marauders, came from the elite group of forces the mercenary leader had. The group was made up of, well, marauders. Tough and well armed, they would kill anyone with a single word from Mira. Legend says this loyalty was the result of a series of blackmail, but the fact remained that Mira got herself a group of men she could count on.

In the case of the Tal'darim, this role was usually played by supplicants.

Supplicants was a general term referring to Tal'darim warriors who obeyed the orders of the ascendant they swore loyalty to above that of everyone else. Even if the ascendant decided to go against the Highlord, the supplicants would give their lives for that futile cause. In the original timeline, when Alarak traveled to the Spear of Adun to seek an alliance against Amon and Ma'lash, he brought some Tal'darim warriors with him. These warriors were his supplicants. If Alarak tried to bring ordinary Tal'darim warriors with him, even if he had command over those warriors, those Tal'darim would draw their blades on him before he could even finish his thought as allying with an enemy against one of their own was against the Tal'darim culture. Only supplicants were willing to do something as treachery as that.

The quality and quantity of the supplicants varied with the status of the leader, but usually the supplicant units were stronger than normal ones. In this case with ascendant Dyges, his supplicant forces were consisted of around 50 supplicant zealots and 80 supplicant slayers. These seemed like a lot, but they were just a small portion of the over 2000 Tal'darim on the planet.

"Summon every warrior on the planet and prepare for battle. Gather the supplicants." Dyges suddenly remembered something. "Bring me a war prism."


	10. Chapter 10

As the Tal'darim ground forces scrambled to set up defenses against the unstoppable enemy, their brothers in space were already one step ahead in achieving their goal.

In his carrier, ascendant Guris sat and scanned the zerg leviathans.

Carriers were protoss capital ships with built-in interceptor hangers. Stolen from the Daelaam and transformed by Tal'darim phase smiths, they were the backbone of the Death Fleet. In the hanger, automated probes turned minerals into small mechanical interceptors that were launched into the open when needed. These small unmanned fighters could fire lasers at enemy units. Perhaps a few of them couldn't do much damage against armored units, but one of the advantages of the interceptors was its numbers. A single carrier could launch thousands of interceptors. Dozens of carriers could create a swarm.

Unfortunately, today the number wasn't favoring the Tal'darim. Guris quickly realized that when a cloud of purple started spreading out from the literal wall of leviathans.

Only it wasn't a cloud. It was an army of zerg flyers. A mixture of mutalisks and scourges, at least thousands of them, charged at the insignificant Tal'darim ships with full speed.

"Engage the enemy. For Amon!" Despite already knowing how this battle was going to end, the Tal'darim fought bravely. With a single war cry from Guris, the phoenixes charged head on into the fray. Destroyers turned their firepower to the maximum level. Interceptors started flying out of the lone carrier.

The speedsters of the two fleets were the first to clash.

Mutalisks were fast zerg flyers. They were smaller than corruptors and larger than scourges. Compared to the agility of protoss phoenixes and the firepower of terran vikings, mutalisks relied on their speed and numbers to find out an opportunity to pick the enemies apart. That being said, their glave wurms could cut a marine into two in one hit, and that was just mutalisks from normal broods. These mutalisks were special. They came from the Queen of Blades' personal brood.

The swarm was a combination of many individuals broods. Each brood had a broodmother as its commander and had its own territory. As the Queen of Blades and the leader of the zerg swarm, Kerrigan had a powerful brood that she had direct psychic command over. This brood ranged from the most basic zergling to the most powerful leviathans, and every unit from this brood had the best essence, the most helpful evolutions, and the most powerful upgrades. A single zergling of Kerrigan could kill three zerglings from the brood of a normal broodmother. Apart from Kerrigan's almost invincible power and the zerg psionic network, this elite group of zerg units that she had absolute dominance over was another thing that kept the broodmothers loyal.

Likewise, these mutalisks were elite either.

The Tal'darim phoenix pilots immediately found that out. Usually a phoenix could kite and kill half a dozen mutalisks with ease. Phoenixes were even faster than mutalisks, and their agility could make mutalisks look like a fool.

But this time the mutalisks could catch onto the phoenixes with ease. The red ion cannons of phoenixes fired on the mutalisks, but all they did was leave a few marks on the zerg flyers. In exchange, the glave wurms could easily punch a hole in the plasma shield of the phoenixes and send them exploding.

Within the first seconds, half of the twenty Tal'darim phoenixes have fallen, and the survivors were wounded more or less. On the other side, the mutalisk wave was barely hit. There might be a few mutalisks that fell when dying phoenix pilots smashed their fighters into the closest enemies they could see as a last sign of their devotion, but those losses could be easily ignored by the number of mutalisks present.

The destroyers were the next to join battle. The bloodshard crystals projected a bright red destruction beam that jumped from target to target. Usually destroyers were the best against armored units, but that was by no means saying they were weaker in dealing with unarmored ones.

The destruction beam smashed into the mutalisk horde, and the attack bounced countless times in just seconds. With every step the mutalisks moved forward, half a dozen of them were melted.

Countless zerg fell, but Guris wasn't satisfied. The fact that the mutalisks charged without making any effort of spreading out and dodging the destroyer attacks didn't mean the zerg were stupid. It meant they were so confident that they didn't need to preserve units to win this fight.

Just like he imagined, the mutalisks quickly swarmed upon the destroyers and surrounded them from all directions. The destroyers did all they could to open fire, but the red light was quickly covered by the endless purple zerg. Not a single glimpse of red could be seen from Gulis' carrier.

Inside the zerg ball, the glave wurms started flying toward the destroyers that had no mean of escape. A destroyer pilot tried to move her vessel out, but she was immediately pushed back by a dozen mutalisks. The warp drives were rendered useless as well.

The attacks reached their targets. Unlike the phoenixes, the destroyers were larger and had tougher shields. In each vessel, a bloodshard crystal shined and pumped most of its power into the plasma shield. Despite all the upgrades, evolutions, and the advantage in the numbers, the wurms were halted by a red layer of life saver. The vessels shook violently, but in the end all three destroyers held.

The near death experience only made the Tal'darim pilots within the ships more thrilled. Their destruction beams were turned to maximum power level. Mutalisks melted one by one, yet the horde was still covering the field.

Guris took a slight breath of relief as he kept controlling his ship to fight. The longer the destroyers could hold, the more time the Tal'darim forces on the ground had to prepare for the invasion. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he saw some smaller units within the zerg horde.

"Scourges incoming!" He yelled through the comm, despite knowing there was nothing his warriors could do.

Hundreds of smaller figures emerged from behind the larger mutalisks. Those inexperienced with the zerg might underestimate them because of their size, but if they did that they would pay the price with their lives.

Scourges were flying banelings. Just like their comrades on the ground, they could explode on contact and do massive damage against enemy air units. Maybe one of them couldn't take down a capital ship, but how about ten? How about a hundred? A thousand?

The zerg were always the one with the most numbers.

The destroyer pilots may or may not have heard the order from their commander, but the fact remained that their bloodshard crystals were near depleted.

One of the destroyers was the first victim as dozens of scourges charged at his position. Her weapon focused on the flying banelings and half the scourges were taken down before they could make contact, but the survivors managed to crash into his ship with all the strength in the world.

The destroyer shook more violent than ever as its shield crumbled. The hall of the destroyer was still intact, but the destroyer pilot's eyes darkened.

"My life for Amon." She whispered quietly. If there was anything in her crimson eyes, it was satisfaction.

The next second hundreds of glave wurms wiped over the destroyer and ripped it to pieces. The pilot's body was reduced to a cloud of red psionic energy. Unlike the Daelaam protoss that valued the lives of their people, the Tal'darim didn't install emergency warping devices on their warriors. In most cases, the price of defeat was death.

The two other destroyers saw the death of their sister. One of the destroyers put all the power to the thrusters and pushed the ship in front with all the force possible. All around the ship mutalisks slammed onto the plasma shield of the ship, trying to keep it in place.

The pilot smiled. That was exactly what he wanted. All the zerg were clumped up, and if there was an explosion here the amount of damage done would be maximized.

The Tal'darim knew destroyer weapons weren't explosive, but he also knew the bloodshard crystal that powered the destroyer was extremely unstable…

Guris watched as the dense zerg horde was suddenly overwhelmed by a bright red light, which was quickly followed by a wall of destructive energy. Even a distance away, the carrier was impacted by the blast. Its plasma shield shook and protected the ship, but the mutalisks and scourges didn't share the same luck. Their carapace could stop marine gauss bullets, but they melted like paper against the exploding bloodshard crystal.

When the smoke cleared, a large sphere of empty space was opened up in the closely packed zerg horde. The sacrifice of the destroyer pilot ended the lives of most of the zerg around him as well as the life of a fellow pilot. This wasn't a game. Explosions couldn't distinguish between friend or foe.

Guris didn't have time to be happy or be sad as the blank space was quickly filled again by reinforcing mutalisks and scourges. While the zerg were dealing with the phoenixes and destroyers, the leviathans at the back has been constantly releasing fresh reinforcements. The amount of zerg killed was barely one third of the fresh zerg that arrived.

The carrier pilot looked around. All the phoenixes and destroyers were dead. Apart of the random pieces of wreckage, there was no proof of these warrior's struggle.

They gave their lives for Amon. Now it was his time.

The mutalisks and scourges have been constantly bombarding the capital ship, but the shield generator on the carrier was still holding. The entire time Guris had been opening fire on the zerg. The swarm of interceptors he released into the field was obliterated even before the destroyers. They were fast, but speed couldn't save them when every interceptor was chased after by a mutalisk. Cheap weapons, interceptors weren't worthy enough to be equipped with plasma shields. One glave wurm, at most two, and the interceptor would be bursting into flames. The only weapon Guris had left was the purifier beam in the tip of the carrier, the photon cannons on the side of the carrier, and the orbital cannons on the bottom of the ship.

A large vessel like a carrier obviously had more means of attack than just the interceptors, especially if the vessel was modified by the Tal'darim. The purifier beam was designed for larger targets like leviathans or battlecruisers, but they could also work against mutalisks. The hall of the carrier was covered by photon cannons. Protected by the plasma shield of the carrier, these static defenses could unleash upon the zerg freely. Orbital cannons were designed to bombard ground units, but when positioned properly they worked against zerg flyers as well.

It was these equipment that kept the entire zerg fleet at bay. Every second the mutalisks were falling by the dozens. One swipe from the purifier beam and every mutalisk in the line of impact would be either melted immediately or severely wounded. The photon cannons were less effective, but when hundreds of photon projectiles were sent flying every second, the number was enough to make up for the lack of quality. Mutalisks were dropping like flies.

One ship holding back against an army. The might of the Tal'darim protoss was fully demonstrated. Granted, the zerg swarm wasn't using its full might, but the fact remained.

* * *

Suddenly, another leviathan jumped out warp space. The twenty leviathans were around eleven kilometers long, but this leviathan was even longer. Four third the size of normal leviathans, the newly arrived ship stood tall.

And it had a reason to. After all, it was the flagship of the Queen of Blades.

Inside the flying zerg city, countless zerg organisms crawled and moved, but in the bridge, standing alone, was a figure in purple.

Kerrigan was a mutated terran. In addition to the purple layer of carapace that covered her entire body, two spine wings grew out of her back. Apart from being intimidating, the wings could be used as weapons. A single strike from them could easily punch through the plasma shield of a zealot. Her hands were turned into sharp claws. Her beautiful ginger hair was transformed into snake-like tentacles. The woman was a monster by more than one meaning.

Kerrigan's accomplishments matched her look. In the bloody Brood War, a clash between the Overmind zerg, the Aiur protoss, the Terran Confederacy, and the UED, the Queen of Blades was the final winner. The Overmind died via the suicidal charge of Aiur high templar Tassadar. The Aiur protoss suffered heavy losses from the endless zerg brood. The Terran Confederacy fell and was replaced by a battered Terran Dominion. The UED(United Earth Directorate) fleet traveled all the way from Earth to Koprulu Sector, only to get completely eliminated by the zerg under Kerrigan's command.

The period after the Brood War was Kerrigan's golden age. After killing Fenix in a swift betrayal, she allowed Mengsk, Raynor, and Artanis to flee. Whether it was because she couldn't kill them or because she wanted her enemies to live and witness her victory, the fact remained that almost every major player in the sector now was alive because Kerrigan was feeling merciful.

After the Brood War, the swarm retreated to the planets around Char. As the queen took a step back, the survivors of the previous war started to take actions. The Terran Dominion rebuilt on the corpse of the Terran Confederacy and constructed a powerful economy as well as a powerful fleet. The Daelaam protoss desired a day to retake their homeworld of Aiur.

But now, after four years of peace, the Queen of Blades once again reached out her claws to the rest of the sector…

The absolute leader of the swarm glanced at the resisting Tal'darim carrier. She wasn't annoyed by the resistance. If anything, she was glad to see the Tal'darim ascendant fighting futilely for his god, even though his fate was already sealed. The death of countless elite mutalisks didn't even bother her the slightest. The swarm controlled and were mining off over a thousand planets. At their resource collection rate, these units could be replaced in at most an hour. To Kerrigan, the units enough to wipe out half of Deadman's Port worth less than a smile on her face.

Plus, the xel'naga artifact couldn't be modified to be able to be warped away directly. It could only be transported physically via a transport, whether it was a warp prism or a shuttle, and zerg mutalisks were patrolling every piece of space around the planet. The Tal'darim fleet was wiped out, or about to be, and a few transports couldn't make it out alive. Just because the Tal'darim added a phase cannon on the warp prisms and called them war prisms didn't mean they were actually combat units.

Finally, after a few minutes, the Queen of Blades got bored of mutalisks and scourges continuously bashing themselves against the plasma shield of the carrier. A smirk on her face, she held her fist tight and field an almost infinite amount of strength running through her body..

"That's enough. Finish him." She said through the shared zerg psionic network, and all the queens in the leviathans immediately heard the order. A few seconds later, Kerrigan's flag-leviathan blinked and disappeared. The next second it popped up right next to the Tal'darim carrier. Normally the capital ships in this sector had only one or two warp drives. Warp drives were expensive and too many jumps could be energy exhausting. Unfortunately, Kerrigan's leviathan was literally a product of an endless amount of resources. A dozen warp drives inside the eighteen kilometer ship meant the leviathan could jump whenever it liked.

Guris was wondering why the zerg flyers that packed his ship like a cocoon suddenly backed off, but the literal city that just appeared in front of him answered his doubts.

His 1.5 km long carrier was like a child in front of the leviathan twelve times larger.

The swarm had corruptors and devourers present, but Kerrigan wanted to end this quickly and decisively. To the queen, killing the carrier was like crushing an ant. She could toy with him as long as she wished, but when she really wanted to kill him, it would be annoying if it took very long or the ant managed to sting her before dying, so maximum effort was immediately used.

Hundreds of tentacles, half a kilometer long each, reached out from within the ship. Usually leviathans used either the bio-plasmid discharge or the spore cannons and spore crawlers implanted to attack, but this time it was much more brutal.

The tentacles slammed into the carrier. The red plasma shield was almost depleted, but the first few dozens of tentacles were still deflected. However, those deflected returned with twice the speed. Within seconds of the attack, the plasma shield was shattered, and the leviathan was reaching into the hall of the ship.

Guris groaned. It was always an unfair fight, but a defeat was, nonetheless, a defeat. In the Tal'darim world, the defeated could only end in two ways. They could either be put into a vanguard and spend the rest of their limited lives fighting and dying for the Highlord to redeem their sins, or they would never return to their people in the first place.

Weakness was a sin, and the punishment for it was death.

At the last seconds of his life, Guris turned on his comm again.

"Dyges, my fleet is obliterated. My warriors have been massacred. My end is near! Are you prepared for combat?"

The ascendant on the ground remained silent for a second. "I have gathered all the warriors on the planet, but I don't think we can hold this." He sensed the zerg fleet from Monlyth. Twenty elite leviathans was deadly even to the entirety of the Death Fleet. A couple thousand zealots and slayers weren't exactly sufficient.

Guris' eyes shined in determination even though he could hear the body of his ship crumbling. The interface panel toward him half the carrier was already gone. Finally, he spoke.

"The work of god can not be taken by the Queen of Blades. If that happens, even Ma'lash can't retake it."

"Even if every Tal'darim on Monlyth perished, as long as the artifact is safe, it will be worthy."

Not giving his comrade another chance to speak, Guris turned off the comm and reached inside the crystal that powered his ship. If he could ignite it, like the destroyer did, then at this distance the explosion might just injured Kerrigan's ship.

His plan never worked.

The crystal received the order to explode, but before it could muster the strength, the hundreds of leviathans tentacles grabbed onto the carrier at once and started pulling it toward different directions. Whatever material the carrier was made of, it wasn't built to withstand this. With a screeching sound that couldn't be passed on in space, the carrier was ripped apart. Even the crystal was crushed and reduced to a pile of useless energy.

The pilot of the carrier was nowhere to be seen.

Kerrigan didn't even set her eyes on the debris. Instead, her eyes were laid on the planet below.

It was as if she could see the artifact on the planet from inside the leviathan.

The queen smirked.


	11. Chapter 11

On the ground, Dyges' eyes went slightly dimmer as the transmission was cut off. He wasn't worried about the ascendant in the air. He was worried about the fate of the keystone.

At this point it was obvious it was a losing battle. Judging from the number of ships in space, even if every zealot and slayer on the ground was not a foot soldier but rather a Highlord, the battle would be lost. Two thousand Ma'lash couldn't defeat twenty leviathans.

A terran army would've fallen apart already. Even if they didn't jump on a transport and make a run for it, the defenses the men put up would be weak. But this was not the case with the Tal'darim.

Every single combatant on the planet was present. Crimson bane blades were activated by zealots who couldn't wait to bath in the blood of their foe. Slayers tapped the ground with their metal limbs. Havocs made intimidating noises as their AI, just like their creators, desired battle. Photon cannons scanned the surrounding.

Sensing the zealotry of his forces, Dyges shook away any sense of doubt. Even if he couldn't keep the keystone away from Kerrigan's hand, he would make sure zerg corpses cover the surface of the planet before that.

The ascendant got to setting up the defenses.

* * *

In space, Kerrigan licked her lips in slight boredom.

She was bored.

Being the most powerful figure, at least in the material world, in the sector, Kerrigan could get anything she wanted. If she wanted a planet destroyed, every single living being on that piece of rock would be gone before she could mention that again.

At this point, there was very little thing she could do to make herself entertained. She could no longer enjoy food. She could no longer have sex. Just look at what she did a few minutes ago: She was willing to throw away hundreds of expensive mutalisks just so she could enjoy the view of a Tal'darim ascendant dying slowly and painfully. Hell at the end of the Brood War she was even willing to let some of the potential enemies go just to make her life more interesting.

But now Kerrigan found another opportunity to make herself satisfied.

"How many Tal'darim are on the planet?" Kerrigan was in no rush to attack. The artifact was hers and would always be hers. The only difference was when.

Immediately, hundreds of overseers moved out of the leviathans and toward Monlyth. Their pneumatized carapace allowed them to move extremely quickly. Within half a minute, they got to the surface of the planet and spread out. The eyes that covered their entire body looked down on the Tal'darim fortification below, scanning everything there was to see.

"Overseers! Destroy them!" In the outmost defense, a supplicant slayer saw the mutated overlords. He ordered in a deep dark voice. His presence as a supplicant gave him slightly more authority than other slayers. Immediately, half the slayers present blinked and appeared beneath the overseers. Their phase disruptors opened fire, and overseers growled as they were shot down one by one.

Kerrigan didn't raise a single eyebrow as every overseer on the ground was slaughtered. Instead, she merely remained still as one of the queens spoke up.

"My queen, there are 2281 Tal'darim units on the planet. Should we attack?"

Kerrigan smiled slightly. "I am fair." She flicked her long nails. "Send 2281 units down and bring me the artifact."

"Yes, my queen." What Kerrigan did was against the zerg code of efficiency, but Kerrigan's dominance over the zerg was more powerful than the zerg subconscious to stay efficient. Every queen present was created by Kerrigan to replace the cerebrates that refused to serve Kerrigan, and they knew better than to question their creator.

Hundreds of overlords, much larger than normal overlords, moved out of the leviathans and descended upon the planet below. The Tal'darim forces were focused around the pillar that held the artifact. The rest of the planet was pretty much defenseless. 2281 zerg units unloaded outside the Tal'darim defenses in complete safety.

With a sharp screech, these units consisted of zerglings, roaches, and hydralisks. They charged toward the Tal'darim defensive formation.

The zerg made no attempt to cover their tracks, and the Tal'darim saw them a distance away. A zealot immediately went to report.

"Ascendant, we have spotted zerg forces outside our defenses!"

"How many?" Dyges asked without turning.

"2281." The zealot said with a sense of anger.

Immediately an area of empty space beside the zealot exploded. The zealot knew it was a result of the anger of the ascendant. He also knew why he was so pissed.

There were 2281 Tal'darim on the planet. The zerg outnumbered them a thousand to one at the very least, but instead of fighting them with their full power and gifting them an honorable death, the zerg decided to send out a small group of units. The zerg were known for their numbers. By sending out these limited forces, the zerg commander was telling the Tal'darim they weren't worth her full might.

Dyges knew it was the Queen of Blades herself in the leviathan above. Her psionic power was like a burning sun to him, but her power didn't mean she could mock a warrior's honor.

"Kill them all!" Maybe he couldn't win this fight, but he woteachught the Queen of Blades a lesson. The Tal'darim were not to be toyed with.

In the front, the Tal'darim forces growled in utter excitement. Zealots led the charge as their bodies were temporarily turned into a blur of energy. The next time they appeared they were smashing into the zerglings in the front.

Red psionic blades cut through zerg carapace. The bane blades of zealots could only go through half the enhanced carapace before being stuck, but the elite warriors didn't let that stop them as they kept on slashing and kicking and hitting and doing everything they could to inflict damage.

A Tal'darim zealot slashed down his weapon and severed one of the claws of a zergling. The zergling hissed in pain, but the pain only made it faster and stronger. Without even flinching, the other claw of the zergling cut down toward the zealot's armor covered body. A layer of red shield appeared and blinked, holding back the claw, and the zealot used the chance to stab his blade into the zergling's stomach and penetrated its body.

The zergling was lifted into mid air, but the zealot didn't stop there. With a bloodthirsty grin, the zealot turned off his weapon and reached forward through the zergling's wound with his bare arm. With a sudden pull, the zealot's hand left the zergling's body. The only difference was the hand wasn't empty. A sector of intestine was in the zealot's grip.

The pain enough to cripple a terran marine rushed into the zergling's tiny mind. The beast wasn't, well, crippled, but a second slash across the head ended its life.

The zealot dropped the piece of purple blood stained intestine and smiled.

The next second a spine hit him in the face. The zealot level plasma shield was penetrated instantly, and the grooved spine found its way through the zealot's head. The red light in the zealot's eyes went dim as the warrior collapsed on the ground. With a final groan, his eyes closed completely and his body disintegrated, leaving just his armor and his weapon on the ground.

The legacy of the zealot was quickly covered as more zealots and more zerglings charged into the fray. In just seconds the once shiny armor was turned into a pile of muddy waste.

The melee units were covered by support units. Tal'darim slayers, modified stalkers with ranged attack, blinked into the field. Countless particle disruptor shots were fired at the zerg horde.

They were quickly retaliated by their counterpart from the zerg. Hundreds of elite hydralisks, hunter killers, launched grooved spines toward the red flank, earning a sea of clear red shields from their targets. Most of the time they couldn't kill the units, but they could do enough damage so melee units could finish the job.

Dozens of smaller mechanical units appeared in the battlefield. They were havocs, modified sentries. They blinked almost simultaneously as their AI analyzed the situation and decided what was the best course of action. When the computation was complete, they carried out that order.

Two dozen red force fields appeared in the zerg forces. They couldn't do real damage, but their contribution to the battle was still significant. The zerg horde was separated into countless smaller sections. Zerglings were put into different piles. Some of the zerglings were stuck in the back while others were trapped with the zealots and were massacred. The hydralisks tried to reinforce their melee brothers, but their spines were blocked as well by the force fields.

When the force fields faded away, the ground was already covered by zergling blood, and the hydralisks found themselves facing a crowd of angry zealots with little zergling between them. In a fair fight, a zealot could kill an elite zergling. Only when it was one zealot against two or three elite zerglings that the table might be turned.

The zerg took heavy losses, but they weren't completely defenseless either. As the force fields were gone, a group of larger zerg units marched into the front. A hundred of them, they were much larger than hydralisks. Meters of armor meant their chance of survival was much larger than that of the fragile hydralisks and zerglings.

They were roaches, the tanks of the zerg. They weren't as strong and durable as the ultralisks, but they were in more plentiful numbers.

They were obviously a difficult foe, but to the Tal'darim that only meant more glory. A zealot charged at the roaches. As his form solidified, his red blade was already on top of it's target.

The zealot smirked as he felt his blade cutting into something, but his smirk immediately turned into a frown when he realized he couldn't push the blade in further. He tried to enhance the psionic input of the weapon, but once again the weapon was stuck after making a few more inches of progress.

The roach opened its mouth, and a pile of highly corrosive saliva flew toward the zealot. The zealot was too close to the roach to move away, and his plasma shield was immediately activated. The acid hissed against the shield and was quickly evaporated, but so did the energy of the shield.

The warrior could feel his protection failing. He knew what would follow if his shield was gone. His armor was more decorative than durable, and he wasn't foolish enough to think it could stop the acid. Once the shield died, he would be defenseless. Even if the shield held, barely, there was no way he could survive in a battle as messy as this one with a half depleted shield.

Still, the desperate fate only brought up the strength in his heart. Instead of backing off, he redirected more energy into his bane blade and, with a sudden kneel, ducked under the stomach of the roach, He had never fought with roaches before, but it was common sense that the stomach of a beast was usually the softest part. The zealot couldn't cut through the armor in the head, but how about the stomach?

The roach realized what his opponent was doing. Taking a step back, it raised its sharp claws and stabbed down on the zealot. Roaches were ranged units, but every zerg could do melee. The sound of something piercing the wind made a whoosh sound in the air as the claws came down.

The zealot's eyes shined determination. Instead of dodging, he put his right wrist next to the roaches' purple stomach.

A blink of red cut through the stomach carapace and punched a hole through the salivary gland that held the acid in the roach.

The zealot only had time to put on a satisfied grin before acid poured out of the wound and smashed into his shield. The shield hissed and did its best, but there was a stream of the corrosive liquid washing over it. Finally, the shield popped, and the zealot screamed in pain as his face was melted.

The scream died when the injured roach continued to slash down with its claws and cut the zealot into a puff of red smoke.

Finishing off the zealot, the wound on the roaches' stomach was already mending. The layer of carapace wasn't the only thing that kept the roaches alive. Their rapid regeneration helped as well.

The victorious roach advanced forward, looking for its next enemy.

* * *

With the roaches as the tip of the spear, the zerg swarm started to punch a hole through the Tal'darim defenses. The protoss resisted, but they fell one by one. After losing a couple hundred warriors, the rest were pushed over the first line of defense. The photon cannons were destroyed and most of the defenders were dead. The survivors retreated to the second line of defense and were backed up by fresh photon cannons, the established defenders, and fresh reinforcements. With all these advantages, they barely managed to hold their ground.

As the Tal'darim were giving their lives for their god, their commander was still next to the artifact, thinking.

Suddenly, he looked up into space. There were twenty leviathans of the swarm in the sky, but he wasn't looking at them. Instead, he was looking at another ship that just exited warp space.

It was a terran ship.

It was a certain outdated Behemoth class battlecruiser.


	12. Chapter 12

Dyges mind was immediately covered by rage. It was bad enough that the zerg were coming for the artifact. Now even a single terran ship was willing to come for the object the Tal'darim were so determined to protect.

It was obvious the terran were here for the artifact. What else would they want from this useless planet?

"Guris, obliterate…" He ordered almost mindlessly before suddenly catching himself.

That was when he remembered there was nothing he could do with these terran thieves. If they came a few hours ago, the Tal'darim defense fleet could easily defeat them and, if lucky, kill every single last one of them. But now...the Tal'darim ships were gone. Their commander was dead. Even the ground forces were dying by the droves. They could only sit back and watch as a single vulnerable terran cruiser sailed across their sky.

Suddenly, Dyges' mind turned toward an odd direction.

The Queen of Blades was here for the artifact. The terran were also here for the artifact.

Dyges didn't want to try to turn the terran against the swarm. Battlecruisers might be the ultimate weapon among the terran forces, but a single battlecruiser was no match for the swarm. A single leviathan could easily massacre the lone battlecruiser.

Instead, he was thinking about something...unorthodox.

His goal, no, his duty was to protect the piece of artifact. Now that that was turned impossible and the artifact would be certainly lost, his mission was turned to the closest thing. It turned to making sure the artifact wouldn't be lost for long.

If the artifact was taken by the Queen of Blades, then there was no hope of retaking it. The Death Fleet was almost unstoppable in the sector, but the swarm was one of the few enemies that could indeed stop them. The endless zerg might not be enough to overwhelm the Death Fleet, but they were more than enough to keep the artifact from being found.

On the other hand, if this small group of terran managed to take the artifact...they would flee the moment they get their prize. As powerful as the zerg were, they had no way of stopping a ship that was this distance away from warping away. Once the ship was gone, even if the Queen of Blades could take down the battlecruiser herself, her power would be useless if she couldn't find the ship.

Plus, for the Death Fleet, taking back the artifact from a group of terran with a single battlecruiser was much easier than fighting a way past hundreds of leviathans and millions of zerg before the zerg could even find the time to move the artifact to safety. It was an easy conclusion.

True, for a Tal'darim, handing over the work of god to a thief, zerg or terran, was the heaviest crime possible. If Ma'lash learned what he did, he would be punished more heavily than any other defeated ascendant in the history of the Tal'darim. Just because he had a good reason to do what he did didn't mean it was justifiable.

But whether or not he was understood by his people didn't matter. He was loyal to Amon, and he was willing to do that was best for Amon even if the price was not only his life but also his glory.

"Supplicants, load the artifact into the warp prism." Dyges ordered as he made up his mind. He had a few war prisms, but he didn't send them out with the artifact earlier. Countless mutalisks were patrolling the space above Monlyth, and sending the war prism out would only be helping the zerg by delivering the artifact to them.

But now, the war prism might just reach the battlecruiser without being destroyed. There was still some risk, but it would be much better than certain defeat.

The supplicants looked at each other in confusion, but they nonetheless obeyed the order. It might be a stupid order, but every supplicant was willing to die for their ascendant. Loading the artifact was hardly a problem.

Meanwhile, Dyges took out his communication device and started changing the frequency.

* * *

In The Hyperion, the entire bridge went quiet as they saw what was outside.

The twenty zerg leviathans were on the other side of the planet, but the word of the adjutant was enough to tell the Raiders what was going on. The image from the sensors of the two dozen zerg cities, each at least a dozen kilometer long, crushed whatever hope they had of getting what they came for. Even The Hyperion was just less than two kilometers long. A rough estimation stated that at least a hundred Hyperions were needed to be an even match with the swarm present.

"Uhh, Jimmy? I think it's time to get the hell outta here." Tychus gulped and immediately changed his mind. It was one thing to go against an enemy he only knew about from files. It was another to try to grab the artifact in front of twenty leviathans, each of them holding an army more than enough to wipe the Raiders out. The sight of twenty capital ships was more menacing than any promise of credits. The fugitive immediately changed his mind.

Even Raynor was nervous. He fought with the zerg before, but leviathans were new to him. In the Brood War the largest zerg he saw were the guardians, and they were like an ant in front of the mountain like leviathans. He didn't need to use his brain to know this was an impossible mission. The credits the Moebius Foundation promised wouldn't be of any use if he was dead.

"Matt, prepare for jump…"

"Sir, we can't leave." Jean suddenly announced.

The one piece of artifact, as insignificant as it seemed, was critical to her plan.

The Queen of Blades was an interesting figure. She was a strict enemy of Amon. In fact, she was the only hope of defeating Amon. On the other hand, Sarah Kerrigan wasn't exactly a friend either. She wouldn't hesitate to take out everyone on The Hyperion just because she wanted to.

She was an uncontrollable factor. In the original history, she would be returned to human form by the xel'naga Keystone. It was this that made sure, even when Kerrigan was turned back to the primal Queen of Blades again, she was on the good side of history.

Unfortunately, the artifact could only be useful if all the parts were in place. If Kerrigan took this artifact right here, the Raiders would never regain it.

Without the artifact, there was no chance of victory. Originally in the battle of Char, the combination of half the Dominion Fleet and the Raiders was almost wiped out by Kerrigan with ease. If she wasn't careless and arrogant and sent all her forces forward, then all the terran would be zerg chewing toy before they could even use the Keystone. Jean didn't think it would be different this time just because the Raiders had one more lieutenant.

In one sentence, the Raiders must take the piece of artifact on the planet, regardless of the price.

"What the hell are you talking about? I ain't going to die here." Tychus said, a little frightened.

Even Raynor wasn't sure what Jean was saying. If her eyes weren't as cold and calm as they were, he might think she had lost her mind. Even so, he was growing impatient. The longer The Hyperion remained here, the more likely they would be attacked.

"Jean, a few thousand credits isn't worth the risk."

Jean opened her mouth and was about to say something when a transmission alert suddenly blinked.

"Patch it through." Raynor turned away from Jean and ordered.

A rather ugly face, by human standard, appeared on the large screen.

"Terran thieves!" Somehow the protoss managed to insult every terran in the bridge with just two words.

"Who are you?" Raynor asked quietly.

"I am Tal'darim ascendant Dyges, but that is not important. What is important..." Dyges said something that shocked everyone in the bridge.

"...is what I am sending you." He paused, as if reconsidering his choice. "I am sending you the artifact you came here for."

"What?" Raynor almost choked of surprise. "I thought you're its guardian. Why are you helping us?"

Before the ascendant could answer, Jean suddenly spoke up. While everyone else was busy being surprised, she was calculating the situation and putting herself in the shoes of the Tal'darim defenders.

"Because he can no longer guard it." She immediately caught the attention of everyone in the bridge and Dyges. "It is better to have us have the artifact than the Queen of Blades."

Raynor's mind turned quickly as he returned to Dyges. "Is this correct?"

Dyges nodded. He wasn't afraid to admit it. Anyone with a brain larger than that of a hydralisk could find out the reason behind his action. He was also confident these thieves wouldn't let go of an artifact this precious when it was literally delivered to them.

"I am sending a war prism to you now. For your sake, label it as a friendly unit and provide cover."

Dyges was about to end the transmission when Raynor spoke.

"How about you?" He knew the answer, but he couldn't help but ask.

Dyges looked at Raynor coldly before the transmission went dark.

"What do you think?" Raynor turned to his most trusted advisor.

"We should remain here but keep the warp drive and the defensive matrix ready in case it's a trap." Jean suggested. "Meanwhile, we should keep an eye on the swarm."

Raynor nodded.

* * *

Dyges turned off the comm and found himself being stared at by countless of his people. Some were confused. Others were enraged.

What he said was heard by every other Tal'darim.

The supplicants were shocked but were relatively obedient. The same couldn't be said for the rest of the Tal'darim.

"Ascendant Dyges! What have you done?" A zealot was the first to speak. Her voice was no longer filled with the familiar obedience she once had of her superior. All that remained was anger.

What the ascendant did was more than enough to remove his authority.

"I did what I had to do to ensure the safety of the work of god!" Usually Dyges would just execute the zealot for her transgression, but this time from the look of the hundreds of zealots and slayers around he knew he needed to do this nicely. One wrong move, and most of his forces would draw their blades on him in the name of Amon.

"You just handed the work of god to a group of filthy terran! Do you think us fools?" The zealot didn't back down.

Dyges was going to explain his reasoning more, but he doubted the zealot would care to hear it out. Plus, the ruthlessness in his heart was once again awoken by the rash questioning of one of his underlings.

He didn't need to explain why he did what he did, at least not to a mere zealot. Her opinion didn't matter. All she needed to do was obey.

"All non-supplicant units join the battle against the swarm." Ignoring the zealot, Dyges turned to those he didn't trust and ordered them to the meat grinder in the front.

Most of the Tal'darim obeyed the order. Not all of them agreed with Dyges' reasoning, but centuries of absolute obedience planted the idea of obeying without question into their heart. However, the female zealot stood her ground.

"As long as I stand, you will not commit this transgression!" She was joined by two dozen zealots and slayers. All of them had fire in their eyes.

Dyges' eyes went dark. He has already wasted enough time with this idiot. With every second he spent arguing, the terran in space were more likely to be attacked by the swarm. If the terran were forced to flee, then the artifact would fall into the claws of the Queen of Blades.

Then again, the stubbornness of the female zealot wasn't unexpected. Dyes was prepared for that.

"Look," His tone suddenly went softer as he walked closer to the zealot. "I don't want to do this either…"

The female zealot's eyes widened as she realized something was wrong. How nice the ascendant was only meant one thing. Her blades were ignited, but the next moment she instantly exploded into a cloud of rogue bane energy.

After mindblasting the zealot, Dyges ignited his blades and punched through the chest of one of the zealots that stayed when he was ordered to leave.

The other zealots and slayers that remained activated their weapons, but the supplicant units were quicker and had several times the number. The rebels were massacred. Broken armors and slayer metal add ons covered the ground.

The supplicans acted without mercy. This wasn't the first time they fought and killed their own people.

Wasting no more time, the war prism loaded up the keystone fragment and darted away through the sky. Four other war prisms followed the transport. Just because they weren't exactly combat units didn't mean they couldn't act as moving shields.

Watching the war prisms leave, Dyges turned to the supplicants. The warriors had no fear. They would follow their leader to the gates of hell, and the swarm couldn't frighten them if they weren't afraid of death.

 _"Supplicants! Follow me into glorious combat! Glory to the Tal'darim! Glory to Amon!"_

With a war cry, Dyges, no longer with a heavy load on his heart, charged into the front with the last of his forces.


	13. Chapter 13

In her leviathan, Kerrigan psionically controlled a roach and vomited on a zealot and watched as the warrior was melted by the acid. Just because she could kill hundreds of zealots in one strike didn't mean it wasn't fun to play the fighting game from the point of view of a roach. Sometimes the slower method was more interesting than the faster one.

"My queen, a terran battlecruiser just exited warp space." A queen reported. In the zerg command structure, Kerrigan controlled the broodmothers, who, with the help of the overlords, controlled the basic units. This was because even with the help of overlords Kerrigan couldn't connect to the millions of zerg units. This was a bit different in her personal brood, which was much smaller. Still, it wouldn't be ideal for Kerrigan to be constantly linked to tens of thousands of zerg units. Thus came the queens. Queen were similar with broodmothers both in term of look and function. When the Queen of Blades' attention was attracted by something else, the queens took care of the basic events of the brood, including blockading the planet and sending out patrols.

That was unfortunate because the queens weren't present during the Brood War. In fact, all the queens in the swarm were fresh creation of Kerrigan after the Brood War. That was why the queen didn't recognize The Hyperion. She knew from her implanted memory that the ship was a terran battlecruiser, but that was it.

It was a critical mistake.

Kerrigan didn't even raise an eyebrow as she gave out a random order and returned her attention back to the extremely realistic RPG game. "Send a few corruptors and take it out." She didn't know who the ship was or why it was here, and she didn't want to know. She could recognize the ship in a single second if she bothered spending a few seconds to connect with an overlord close to the ship, but her arrogance cost the queen a lot.

Two corruptors and twenty mutalisks flew toward The Hyperion. They were enough to take down a normal battlecruiser, but this one wasn't normal.

In The Hyperion bridge, Horner glanced down on his clock.

"It's been over ten minutes. I don't think they'll be coming." Unlike the past circumstances, the captain wasn't exactly with Jean on this one.

Suddenly, a deck officer spoke up.

"Sir, zerg units incoming!"

"How many?"

"Two corruptors and twenty mutalisks."

Horner didn't feel surprised. If the swarm allowed a ship of a hostile race around their target planet for over ten minutes, they wouldn't have conquered half the sector. "We can take care of them, but more will follow." He looked at Raynor once again. "Sir?"

Raynor didn't answer but instead looked at Jean. The girl gave him a confident nod.

"Ready the weapons."

Horner was still doubtful, but good soldiers follow orders, and so do good captains.

The zerg were spread out. Two larger corruptors led the charge. The mutalisks covered the side.

"Ready the Yamato Cannon. Caliber it to the necessary firepower." Horner spoke slowly and patiently.

The tip of The Hyperion started glowing as the fusion core within the ship started concentrating all its power into the most powerful weapon on the ship. Now that The Hyperion was fully charged, all of its functions were online. A few corruptors that could've forced the ship to flee back on Agria were no longer much of a threat.

When the power reached a certain amount, the Yamato Cannon fired. A ball of orange energy, just the size needed to kill the corruptors but wouldn't lead to much waste, left the ship and smashed into one of the corruptors.

The corruptor was immediately engulfed in flames. Every single part of its body was fired into every direction possible. When the explosion cleared, the unfortunate corruptor was nowhere to be seen.

The other corruptor ignored the death of its comrade, but it couldn't ignore the second round of Yamato Cannon. The slower power of the blast meant a shorter time needed to recharge.

When both corruptors were down, the queen in command realized something was wrong. The Yamato Cannon of a normal battlecruiser could kill an elite corruptor, but it would take longer to charge than what The Hyperion took.

This wasn't just some random battlecruiser.

Still commanding the mutalisks, the queen crawled to Kerrigan's chamber once again.

"My queen?" Her head was bowed down with a mixture of respect and fear.

"What?" Kerrigan was sitting on a seat made up of zerg organisms. She was already breaking through the Tal'darim defenses. The survivors were been taken out one by one. What she did before, overrunning the enemy forces by either betrayals or an overwhelming army, was nowhere as fun as what she was doing. As she moved the units around, it was as if she was playing a computer game.

"The terran battlecruiser took out both of our corruptors within seconds. They are not normal." The queen didn't want to disrupt the fun Kerrigan was having, but she had no choice.

Kerrigan frowned as she pulled her attention away from the roaches. "What?" Without a further answer from the queen, she connected with the closest mutalisks in the field.

What she saw wasn't exactly satisfying.

Two third of the mutalisks were gone. The rest were circling around the much more advanced battlecruiser. Occasionally a few glave wurms would be projected at the Hyperion, but all of them were useless against the meters of armor.

"The Hyperion! Raynor!" The Queen of Blades growled. "What is he doing here?" Ever since the Brood War and her betrayal, Raynor left Char and her behind. Despite the confusion, she gave an order and thousands of mutalisks and scourges left the leviathans and went for the battlecruiser. She spared Raynor before because she was in a good mood, but that good mood was nowhere to be seen when he kept on poking his stupid head into her business.

Suddenly, almost as soon as the zerg flyers departed, a mutalisk patrolling an area between Monlyth and the Hyperion reported of sightings of enemies.

"Now what?" The queen said with annoyance, but still she didn't truly understand the situation.

Switching to the memory of that mutalisk, she saw five war prisms leaving the forest planet and heading for the Hyperion.

No doubt, one of them carried the object she desired so much.

Usually, Kerrigan wouldn't make such an amateur mistake, but this time she was made arrogant by the countless successes she experienced. After defeating the Tal'darim fleet, she thought she was safe and the battle was already done. If she was still the Queen of Blades in the Brood War, she would've sent out half the mutalisks available and patrolled the skies of the entire planet. That way the war prisms wouldn't even make it off the ground of the planet before being gunned down. Now, because of her carelessness, her flyers were sitting in the halls of her leviathan while their enemies fled in safety.

Four years of peace dulled her mind. It would take a while for her to return to who she was.

Kerrigan smashed onto the handle of her seat. The zerg organism that consisted of her entire seat exploded into a ball of purple, lifeless waste.

As if feeling the wrath of their queen, almost every single mutalisk, scourge, and corruptor left the leviathans and charged at the position of the Hyperion. Every queen in the twenty one leviathans started making calculations about the coordinates of the Hyperion. It wouldn't take long for a jump to be online. Once the leviathans were next to the battlecruisers, the end would be near.

But no matter how fast the zerg were, they were always too slow.

The war prisms were armed with gravitic drives that made them even faster than the mutalisks. The five of them darted past the approaching mutalisks and went for the Hyperion. There were more than enough mutalisks to crush the war prisms, but the power levels didn't matter if the mutalisks couldn't engage their enemies in the first place.

The queens immediately took action. The path of travel of the war prisms was predicted, and a group of mutalisks was sent to intercept the war prisms from the opposite side.

Seeing the incoming mutalisks, all five war prisms turned their shield generators to maximum power. Their phase blasters weren't even firing so all the power could be distributed to the shields.

The swarm units and the Tal'darim units smashed into each other. As soon as they made contact, the mutalisks did everything they could to punch through their targets, whether it was with their glaive wurms or their bodies. Three war prisms exploded and the two survivors lost their shields and were wounded. Only two mutalisks fell. The losses were favoring the zerg, but the queens in command knew their mission was lost.

They simply didn't have the numbers. This was a rare thing to be said of the swarm.

The mutalisks turned back around. They were quick, but the war prisms were quicker. As the zerg were still trying to make a U turn, the war prisms simply kept on going, leaving their pursuers behind.

More zerg were dispatched to the field, but they would never make it in time.

Seeing the two Tal'darim transports, Horner immediately passed down a series of orders.

Kerrigan dispatched all her forces to deal with the Hyperion, but corruptors were too slow. Even the faster units needed a while to get into position. Only the scourges and the mutalisks that were in the leviathan the closest to where the Hyperion was reached their target in time.

For the past minute the Hyperion has been silently taking the punishment from the zerg. After all, their attacks weren't enough to do critical damage. But when the transports arrived, Horner knew it was time to act.

"Activate the defensive matrix!"

A layer of green protective shield covered the entire ship.

"All thrusters to maximum power! Target, forward!"

The Hyperion charged toward the flock of mutalisks and scourges in front of them. The zerg fought back against the enemy countless times larger with no fear. Scourges smashed into the battlecruiser and exploded when they hit the defensive matrix. Glave wurms were swung out, only to be deflected as well.

The Hyperion shook heavily. Energy was quickly drained as the power of the matrix was constantly tested, but it was worth it. The green layer of force field held strong and bought the Raiders precious time..

As the Hyperion got close enough, the air to air laser batteries equipped started firing. Orange energy blasts hit the mutalisks in close quarter. Some fell, but others stood and fought.

If there were still mutalisks present when the war prisms arrived, the artifact might be endangered, so Horner took countermeasures.

"Activate missile pod A!" With another order from Horner, a gate on the Hyperion opened. Thirty small missiles flew outside the ship, dragging a trail of smoke behind. Each one of them was locked onto one of the mutalisks. The mutalisks flew and dodged, but the missiles quickly caught up to them. As all the mutalisks that survived exploded into balls of flames, the path of the war prism was suddenly clear.

Suddenly, as all the enemies were gone and the hanger door of the Hyperion was opened for its alien guests, the two war prisms turned and moved toward another direction away from the Hyperion. After all, the only thing keeping them from warping away was gone, at least for now. The Hyperion cleared away all the enemies that were close enough to matter, and the war prisms were armed with warp drives. Instead of giving the terran thieves the piece of artifact like promised, the war prisms could easily return to Slayn.

The order Dyges gave was to give the terran the artifact if the only other option was giving the zerg that, but wouldn't it be much better to return the artifact to the Tal'darim? The AI of the war prism immediately made the decision.

Just before the war prisms could disappear, two missiles smashed into them.

Instead of exploding like the missiles from the missile pod, these ones sent a surge of electromagnetic pulse through the war prism, disabling everything. That included the warp drive. In just seconds both transports were fully disabled. The AIs, weapons, and shields went offline.

Without any resistance, the Hyperion moved to beside the transports and brought both in with a tractor beam.

Inside the bridge, Horner looked at Raynor and Tychus, who was still recovering from fear after the event.

If the Tal'darim transport fled with the xel'naga artifact, then everything the Raiders did would be for nothing. They would've spent countless energy and made an incredibly powerful enemy with no reward. That would be a terrible trade.

Fortunately, Horner was an experienced captain, and he was prepared for the possibility of the Tal'darim double crossing them. A total of five EMPs ready to be fired at a moment's notice was the proof. When Horner realized the prisms were going the wrong direction, he acted without hesitation.

Suddenly, a gigantic creature appeared next to The Hyperion. The terran capital ship was nothing compared to the leviathan. It was as if all the leviathan needed was move one step forward, and the Hyperion would pop like a bubble.

Twenty tentacles extended out of the side of the leviathan. All the spore crawler and spore cannons of the ship started unloading on the ship. The green shield that survived the mutalisks shook drastically like never before. The spore cannons shook the matrix with their sheer impact, and the spore crawlers used their numbers to do damage.j

Horner acted without even asking Raynor. There was no time for this. "Activate warp drive to assigned coordinates now!" A set of designated coordinates was loaded into the computer of the ship so a jump could be done as quickly as possible.

The warp drive in the Hyperion started to turn, but for the moment the ship was still here.

Sitting on her renewed throne, Kerrigan's eyes widened. She felt something she never felt before. It was the feeling of knowing luck was the only thing that could decide the outcome of the event. As powerful as she was, there was nothing she could do to help. Fortunately, today luck might be on her side.

In the bridge, Raynor's eyes also went wide. Tychus' metal fist was held tight. Horner was struggling to remain calm as if the captain faltered, so would the crew members, but a drop of sweat on his forehead told another story. Jean' eyes were still ice cold as she stared at the computer screens.

The next second all the tentacles and projectiles went through where the ship was.


	14. Chapter 14

"Raynor!" Kerrigan's eyes turned yellow as deadly psionic energy rampaged around the bridge. There was no debris to be seen. The tentacles and spores were powerful, but there was no way they could destroy every sign of the experience of a ship as large as the Hyperion. There could only be one explanation, and Kerrigan didn't like that possibility.

Every zerg growled as they felt their lives under threat. Kerrigan was arrogant, but she had the right to be so. If she wanted to, she could kill all several hundred elite zerg units in the bridge in just seconds. But just before the zerg units were terminated by the anger of their queen, Kerrigan regained control of her power.

Yet it wasn't over. Every single unit in Kerrigan's personal brood felt the wrath of their leader, and every single one of them went into a frenzy.

Those on the ground were especially so. Zerglings emptied every fraction of energy stored in their body just to get some additional speed. Hydralisks fired while walking forward. No longer trying to be efficient and minimize the losses, they unloaded spine after spine while moving forward themselves to engage the enemies in melee combat. Roaches no longer relied on their salivas to do damage. Instead, they used their size and strength to literally push their way into the Tal'darim line. They were taken down quickly and joined their fallen comrades on the ground, but their sacrifice was worth it.

The Tal'darim defenses were already half gone, and the frenzy was the last straw. Reinforcements were depleted, and broken holes in the defensive line could no longer be fixed. Eventually, the Tal'darim were cut into smaller groups and taken out one by one.

But Kerrigan wasn't satisfied by what was happening.

"Wipe the Tal'darim out! I want to see their corpses laid out in front of me!" That was an impossible, or at least insanely difficult, problem because protoss don't have bodies, but the pissed queen had no intention of minding that.

She had the artifact in her grip, and she allowed it to slip out of her fingers. The sudden difference between victory and defeat made her want to kill something. For normal people that was just a literary device, but not for Kerrigan.

Raynor was lucky and got away, but the Tal'darim didn't share the same luck. Kerrigan swore to herself that one day she would find her former lover and make him pay for what he did, but as for now only the Tal'darim could relieve her anger with their lives.

Immediately, five of the leviathans that were in the orbit of the planet started descending. Spore crawlers and spore cannons, usually meant as anti air weapons, uprooted and crawled to the lower side of the ship and planted themselves so they were pointing at the ground. The leviathans lowered to a distance so the Tal'darim base was put in the firing range of the spores.

Usually this was a dangerous thing. In a normal battle, even if the fleet of one side was down, the opposing fleet couldn't descend into the atmosphere and fire freely upon the ground sources. Orbital defenses could rip through any ship in the air. Weapons like Drakken Pulse cannons of the terran, spore cannons of the zerg, and Khaydarin monoliths of the protoss, could break through the shields and the armors of the capital ships with relative ease.

This was not the case here. The most the Tal'darim had were photon cannons. That was it.

When the capital ships were in place, unchallenged, the spores opened fire. Large and small projectiles alike smashed into the protoss camp below.

With the help of overseers that entered surveillance mode, the spores were as precise as possible. Static defenses like photon cannons were the first to perish. When they were gone, the spots where the Tal'darim were the most concentrated came under fire.

With every shot, at least half a dozen zealots or slayers were caught in the blast. If it was a weaker spore crawler then the units might be able to survive, but if it was a spore cannon, the Tal'darim were for sure dead. Even phasing armors of slayers couldn't protect them against something as large and powerful as spore cannons. After all, spore cannons were used as anti-capital ship weapons. They had no problem killing a single ground unit.

The most painful hits came when three large spores landed in the mixture of protoss and zerg in the second line of defense. Most of the Tal'darim forces still alive were holding back the swarm in the front. The best of the best, including ascendant Dyges, were engaged in hand to hand battle. In order to back their brothers up, these warriors were in a tight position. This was good against zerglings, roaches, and hydralisks, but it was hardly helpful when something as explosive as spore cannons came into action.

The acid melted zerg and protoss alike. The only difference was the zerg were expendable and the protoss weren't. Some of the more formidable units, like slayers and roaches, stayed alive after the first round, but then came the second, and then the third. The leviathans didn't stop until everything in the front that could move was obliterated. They had no intention of distinguishing between friend or foe.

A few Tal'darim tried to retreat or spread out to minimize the losses, but the zerg, even though they were bombarded by their own ships, moved forward and entangled the protoss, holding them in place. As long as the Tal'darim were delayed, even if it was just a few seconds, the following spores would melt everyone.

The bombardment continued for three minutes. When the leviathans stopped, the once heavily fortified Tal'darim base was completely different. Almost all of the defenders were dead, and even their armors and wreckages were nowhere to be seen.

But that wasn't over.

Hundreds of openings appeared in the lower deck of the leviathans. They were tiny compared to the leviathan themselves, but actually, they were large enough to fit an Ultralisk. Suddenly, a zerg drop pod was thrown out of each of the holes. Carrying countless units, these drop pods landed on Monlyth.

When the zerg were done, there was no survivor.

Kerrigan's anger died down slightly when she sensed the only living things on the planet below were zerg, but she didn't forget the protoss weren't the only one that made her look like a fool.

She would go after the Raiders herself. They were hiding in Dominion airspace, but the swarm could wipe out the Dominion with acceptable losses. In the four years, the Terran Dominion turned from a group of defeated rebels to an empire, but the swarm wasn't sitting back either.

But she had something else in mind. As clever and lucky Raynor was, he had one ship. That was it. The real problem was the xel'naga.

Amon wanted to destroy all life in the sector, and he planted some seeds in both the protoss and the zerg to get ready for that. He implanted the backdoor in the khala to control the protoss. For the zerg, he relied on the Overmind and his psionic network. However, things changed slightly when the Overmind fell at the hand of Tassadar. After that, Amon was forced to work with the Queen of Blades.

After winning the Brood War, Kerrigan returned to Char. It appeared like she was sitting back and enjoying her victory. In fact, even Kerrigan herself thought that was the case, but it wasn't.

The swarm was preparing for war. Amon never had any direct control over Kerrigan, but he could effectively influence her decision and make her act in the general direction of his will. For example, Kerrigan was almost naturally building up her swarm. She thought that was just a subconscious decision, that was because she wanted to, but in reality, Amon wanted an army he could command when he returned to the material world.

Unfortunately for Amon, Kerrigan wasn't an easily deceived person. The Queen of Blades sensed the presence of the xel'naga and felt his intention. Despite subconsciously believing the future was sealed and the resurrected fallen xel'naga would kill everyone, Kerrigan wanted to die in a blaze of glory. The swarm would never fall without a fight.

That was why she was going after xel'naga artifacts. Kerrigan didn't know how to effectively fight Amon, but she thought only xel'naga weapons or tools could hurt or even defeat a xel'naga. The Keystone fragments could be potentially helpful.

Then came Monlyth, and she suffered a defeat at the hands of an enemy ten times weaker than her.

Despite wanting to find Raynor herself and snap his neck for tricking her, Kerrigan herself was occupied with the other artifact fragments. The safety of a potential table changing weapon was more important than a pissed ex.

Of course, not being able to deliver the kill herself didn't mean letting Raynor go free.

"Zagara." She made contact with one of her most loyal broodmothers as her own brood prepared for a jump.

"My queen." The broodmother immediately psionically showed her obedience.

"Bring your brood to the Dominion. Locate and destroy a rebel group known as Raynor's Raiders, but bring their leader, Jim Raynor, to me. I want to see him suffer myself." Zagara's brood was one of the most powerful broods the swarm had. Even alone they weren't afraid of the Dominion Fleet.

"Yes, my queen."

Kerrigan sat back as all twenty one leviathans warped away. When the smoke cleared, the only sign of the fight that happened here and the thousands that died was the sound of drones hatching and mining.

* * *

In a piece of neutral space, a slightly wounded battlecruiser exited warp space.

The entire bridge went dead silent as everyone took a few deep breath and tried to come back from the shock they just sensed.

That was close. Very close. If the warp drive was activated a few seconds later, the Hyperion would've taken the full brunt of the leviathan tentacles. Once it was hit, the Hyperion would be damaged. If that happened, there was no promise the ship could make it out in one piece.

Jean wasn't shocked, but she was indeed thinking.

Everything she did so far, whether it was saving the Raiders, buying the mercenaries, or buying new gadgets, was useless against what she just saw today.

Now, that wasn't saying nothing changed. That was saying if Jean today was compared to her a few days ago and they were in a fight to the death against Amon himself, the Jean today could survive a few more seconds and do a few more scratches before being crushed.

From the scanners, Jean saw most of the things that happened on the planet.

First, how good were the Tal'darim? The Tal'darim were one of the best warrior factions in the sector. The several thousand guardians and, judging from common sense a fleet, could take on the entirety of the Dominion. Even if they couldn't defeat the entire Dominion Fleet, they could inflict massive damage on the terran ships and still get out in one piece thanks to the advantage in technology. In general, the Tal'darim were better than the Terran Dominion who was better than Raynor's Raiders.

Yet, the Tal'darim were almost defenseless against the swarm. Granted, they were outnumbered, outgunned, and overwhelmed, but no fight was ever fair. It's not like Jean could go to Amon and tell him to send out his weakest troops to make the battle as fair as square as possible.

* * *

If the factions in the sector was a food chain and Amon was the lion on the top, then Jean was not even the sheep that the lion hunted down and ate as food. She was the grass that the sheep feasted on.

Someone normal would've given up already, but Jean wasn't normal. All the desperate knowledge did was make her think even faster.

Unfortunately, Jean was the only special one in the bridge. The others weren't exactly satisfied with how things turned out.

Raynor finally spoke after a few more seconds of awkward quietness.

"Swann, examine the damage of the ship and make repairs. Tychus, contact the Moebius Foundation and set up a time to exchange the artifact with the credits they promised. Horner, help Swann." Raynor's tone was oddly deep as he turned to the only person he didn't mention.

"Jean, come with me."

The man turned and walked out of the bridge without another word.

Jean quietly followed him, leaving everyone else in the bridge confused.


	15. Chapter 15

Jean followed Raynor into his room. This was the second time she was in his room. Just like Jean's, Raynor's room was dull and boring. The only decoration was a small picture on the desk. Jean glanced at it. It was portraying a certain ginger ghost.

In the picture, Sarah Kerrigan seemed nice and innocent. Whoever saw the picture would have trouble connecting the smiling woman with the monster that slaughtered millions.

Raynor sat down in one of the few seats. He pointed at another empty seat, and Jean sat down as well, wondering why Raynor wanted her here.

If it was someone else, she would suspect the commander wanted to have some rather unorthodox relationship with his young female lieutenant, but she knew Raynor's heart belonged to someone else. Otherwise Jean would've tried an approach other than being Raynor's lieutenant and advisor.

But then why did Raynor call her into his room?

"Sir?" She asked.

"What you did back there, it was stupid."

Raynor paused for a second, as if constructing a thought, before speaking.

"What do you mean?"

Jean's brain turned like a computer while she tried to get more information.

"You know what I mean." There was a hint of disappointment in Raynor's voice. "You decided to put everyone on this ship at risk just for a few thousand credits. That was nothing but dumb."

He shook his head. Here he was thinking Jean might be the best commander among the Raiders, and now he was slapped in the face by what the girl did.

Jean understood what was happening. As much as he trusted her, what happened frightened him. Raynor was experienced with the zerg and knew what they were capable of, which was why he was afraid of what happened. The feeling of almost dying at the tentacles of the leviathan was enough to make him falter.

Jean wasn't surprised. Experienced and determined didn't mean escaping death by a single second and still act as if nothing happened. She quickly came up with a response.

"I didn't."

"What?"

"I didn't do it for a few thousand credits." Jean started to turn the table. "If that piece of artifact is just a random piece of protoss relic, then I would've suggested Captain Horner to warp away as soon as possible, but the artifact is not normal. It's important."

"How do you know?"

Raynor questioned. He had no idea what the Keystone really was, and Jean shouldn't either.

But Jean was too good to make such a stupid mistake.

"The Queen of Blades came to take the artifact with half her swarm."

She replied calmly. Her strong and confident voice brought some strength into Raynor's heart.

The man nodded as Jean continued, no longer as disappointed as he was before.

"Last I checked, Kerrigan is our enemy. Whatever our enemy wants, we should deny."

Raynor nodded again. That was completely reasonable. As his mind calmed down and his fear was dying down with every second that passed, he realized what Jean did was not based on a sudden impulse but was rather the consequence of a carefully crafted string of logic.

"I'm sorry."

After realizing he wronged Jean, Raynor didn't hesitate to apologize. He didn't continue his argument or try to beat Jean down with his authority, but instead, he simply admitted his mistake.

"It's fine, sir."

Jean accepted the apology, but instead of leaving the room, she sensed another opportunity. It was an opportunity to make herself more important in Raynor's mind.

"Sir, if it is ok, may I say something."

Raynor waved his hand. "Shoot."

"Sir, you seem...beaten down."

Raynor looked at Jean and only saw concern. He lowered his head and smiled mockingly. He was mocking himself. "Yes."

"May I ask why?"

Raynor subconsciously wanted to say no and tell Jean to leave. This was none of her concern. For years he processed his grief and fear all by himself. No reason to open his heart to a random lieutenant now, but the following words changed his mind.

"I might be able to help."

Raynor thought about it for a second and finally made up his decision. The girl impressed him. She wasn't a game changer, at least not yet, but she was doing the best she could. A part of him hoped she could impress him even more.

"It's just that...when I saw the zerg in the field today, I realized how little I really am. Funny thing, I have always been the underdog." He said slowly as Jean carefully listened, trying to gather any information that might be useful to her. "Back on Tarsonis, four years ago, there was nothing I could do when Mengsk left Sarah to the zerg. I screamed at Mengsk. I even took his flagship. But that was it. I could only sit back and watch Sarah being taken by the zerg...and turned into the monster she is today."

"And now, four years later, there is still nothing I can do. I am still nobody. Raynor's Raiders...fighting for liberty...what a joke!"

He was loud, and Jean quietly stood up and closed the door. It could be demoralizing for the crew members and the soldiers to see their leader and spiritual figure so distorted. If the commander wanted to quit, there was no reason for the common soldiers to keep fighting.

"Arcturus Mengsk became the Dominion emperor. Sarah was turned to the Queen of Blades. And what do I have? The same thing I had four years ago."

Jean kept quiet. Heroes were human beings, not characters in a book. When defeated or hopeless, they could lose morale and give up, just like every other human being. This never happened in the original history, but comparing to wondering why the leader of the Raiders suddenly went depressed, she thought of ways to bring him back up.

Unlike the last talk Jean had with Raynor, this time, the problem couldn't be solved with a few inspiring words. She needed real, concrete plans to ease Raynor's stress. As long as she could show Raynor there was a hope for the Raiders and for the success of his cause, the man would be back on his feet in no time.

"With all due respect sir, sitting down and giving up can not make things better."

Jean was almost being cruel. She knew the man had a reason to be sad. He gave his life for a noble cause, and in the end he got nothing in return. His girlfriend was turned into a monster that literally massacred millions. The man he fought for turned out to be a conspiracist who would let the world burn to gain power, and ironically he became the emperor of the Terran Dominion. All the while, he, the hero who fought for justice, was stuck, alone and defeated. Anyone less would've said "screw it" and turned to the dark side. Raynor held, against all odds. He had a reason to be depressed, and denying him the chance to mourn was simply brutal.

But why would she care? She needed a strong leader, not a crying baby. She didn't care if he was burning inside as long as she could gain his trust and influence. Plus, she needed this emotional moment of Raynor to make what she had in mind come true.

Jean walked to the adjutant projection and tapped a few keys.

"We need an army." She said. "With an army, we can take down the Terran Dominion and bring Arcturus Mengsk to justice. With an army, we can stop Sarah Kerrigan from hurting anymore innocent people."

With an army, she could kill Amon and complete her mission, but she left that part out.

"You mean the Raiders?"

Raynor rose his eyebrows.

"The Raiders are experienced, but they lack the numbers to truly matter. A couple hundred men, no matter how elite, can't take down the swarm or defeat the Dominion."

Jean shook her head.

"We need a real army. We need an army that is formidable, loyal, and can be easily replaced."

"What do you suggest?"

Raynor tapped the desk. If he could get an army like that, he wouldn't be sitting here, depressed. The problem was he didn't.

"What do you think about an army made up of AI units?"

The hope in Raynor's eyes died down. He thought Jean had some good ideas, but he was disappointed.

"God knows how many scientists tried that out. The reality is AIs can't be equipped in large numbers."

There were AI units in the terran army, but they were mostly units like ARES, eradicators, and sentry bots. Powerful yet expensive, they were mostly used as security guards than front-line troopers. In a real battle, a few of these warbots couldn't do much against an entire army while too many of them would be inefficient for their cost. A few orbital strikes could destroy millions of credits in seconds. They were slowly and stupid as well.

"I know. I did my research." Jean had this topic in mind a while ago. She pulled up a file on the computer. "Three problems. First, AIs are expensive to program and install. Second, AIs can be unreliable in certain occasions. If hackers can get into the internal network, they can turn your own army against you. Third, AIs have trouble reacting to rare situations that weren't programmed into their computers."

"And?" Raynor realized Jean might have more in mind than he imagined.

"I am not talking about standard AI units. I am talking about something else." Jean paused a while. Raynor rose his eyebrows, desperately wanting to know what the girl had in mind.

"What if we can program AI units and install them into our standard units?"

"What?"

"The limitation of human reflexes and emotion means weapons wielded by men and women can not be put to their full potential. If a marine is about to be overwhelmed by twenty zerglings, he wouldn't fight until the last dying breath and take two zerglings to the grave with him. He would turn and run and be easily mowed down with no losses on the enemy side."

"AI units are different. An AI will only act as what its programming suggested. If it is ordered to fight, even if it's one marine against twenty zealots, it will fight until the end."

"More importantly, AI units can act more efficiently than human units. Here's what I'm thinking." Jean was being quite the teacher.

"We can program the AIs to respond to all kind of situations. In fact, we can even dissect the codes of the adjutants and add in battle tactics and knowledge. They will have the skill of the most experienced soldier with the tap of a few keys."

"Moreover, If we can connect every AI unit into one single data web and let them collaborate with each other, the AI units will accomplish more than what those individual units ever could."

"There will be no missed shots. No morale issues. Every tank shot will land in the center mass and do the maximum damage. Every AI marauder will gladly throw itself into a wave of banelings to save its marine counterparts. An army like that can take down enemies twice their size."

Raynor had to admit he was attracted by Jean's proposal. The future she painted for him was bright, but he knew nothing was perfect.

"How are you planning to control these units? If the Dominion hacks it…it will be a disaster."

Raynor didn't want the forces he poured every credit into to be turned into the property of Mengsk by a few computer geeks.

"I am planning to create a backdoor in the data web. A termination code only the two of us knows that overrides every other order." The explanation was as good as ever. "Of course, it's your decision, sir."

"And the necessary technology and money?"

"Swann should be capable of making modifications. As for the money, well, the Raiders are not exactly broke."

Jean persisted.

"The only problem, sir, is what your decision is."

Raynor sighed and picked up the picture on his desk. He stared at it for a few seconds before making up his mind.

With this AI army, he could kill Mengsk and save Kerrigan. Those were the two life goals he had in mind ever since Tarsonis. Years of standing by and doing nothing burned in his chest. He would never give up a possibility of reaching the goals.

There was surely going to be trouble and obstacles, but the result would be worth it.

"What is this project called?"

"It's not named."

"Well, call it…"

Raynor thought about it for a while.

"Project Warden."

This new army would be the warden of justice.


	16. Chapter 16

When Raynor and Jean retreated to the bridge again, they were met with a wave of meaningful glances.

Horner buried his face into a pile of documents.

Tychus walked up to his brother and tapped his shoulder heavily while throwing him a congratulating look. Jean didn't need to realize he misunderstood what the two were doing back there.

That was not surprising considering who Tychus was.

"What's the situation, Matt?" Raynor ignored Tychus and turned to the young captain.

While Raynor and Jean were coming up with their master plan, Horner and Swann did a full scan of the ship.

"We lost forty percent of our energy. The defensive matrix generator is fried. Armor on the left flank is damaged." The zerg tentacles missed, but their spores did quite the damage on the Hyperion. One of them could be shrugged off. Hundreds of them every second couldn't.

"Swann is repairing the armor and the generator. He bought some spare parts back in Deadman's Port."

Raynor nodded, acknowledging the information.

"Tychus?" The criminal was supposed to find a while to turn the piece of artifact to credits.

"I talked with the Moebius boys. They offer to set up an exchange in neutral space." Tychus inhaled deeply from his cigarette. "I will personally bring a transport there with the artifact."

Horner frowned. "I am not letting you take the artifact out there alone. If the Moebius Foundation betrayed you..."

"Oh don't you worry. We had a deal, and a deal is a deal."

Tychus said confidently. He didn't want Raider members to get involved with the deal he made with the Moebius Foundation. They wouldn't be too satisfied by the intermediary fees he implanted for himself.

Horner didn't say anything. It wasn't the Moebius Foundation that he was worrying about, at least not completely. A part of him was worrying of Tychus just running away with that piece of artifact or of him taking the credits for himself. The criminal was totally capable of doing something like that.

Nonetheless, he remained quiet. Sharing concerns like this in public would only bring dispute among the ranks.

"You get that done. Just give me a shout if you need help."

Raynor, as always, gave Tychus his full trust. The latter nodded and left the bridge.

* * *

The next several days passed without much of a fuss.

Tychus returned to the Hyperion one day after he met the Moebius representatives. The 80,000 credits the Moebius paid added to the near 100,000 credits that the Raiders had.

When a satisfied Raynor asked him whether or not the Moebius Foundation wanted the Raiders after another artifact, the criminal was quite displeased.

"I think I scared them with my price. They're using their own Moebius Corps teams on artifact extraction missions." Tychus said. There was a trace of embarrassment in his voice. 80,000 credits wasn't enough to make something as large as Moebius falter, but 120,000 credits was enough.

"Then why didn't you lower the price? Something is better than nothing." Raynor voiced the question everyone on site was asking.

"Ahhh...it's fine. The Moebius Corps are useless. Sooner or later they will have to come to us, begging for help." Tychus smirked at the thought of the idea. "If that happens, I can even bring the price up a few notches."

"I'm not sure if that's the best…"

Raynor wanted to say something, but Tychus stopped him.

"Trust me on this. I may not be the brightest man here, but I know how to deal with customers."

Well, now that the artifact missions were at a shortstop, the Raiders were, for now, without an objective. As the ship rested in neutral space and the crew members rested and recovered, Jean decided to use the short but precious amount of time to do something.

The site of a squad of elite marines reminded Jean she reached her destination. They were put in place under Jean's advice to keep what was going on in the armory as safe as possible. The sentries didn't stop Jean as she entered the armory. The girl was one of the few people that enjoyed this privilege.

Inside the large factory, Swann was using his robotic limb to alter one of the marine CMC armors. Unlike the standard marine suits, this one was much more expensive, and with great price came great power.

This armor was much thinner than the ordinary CMC armor. Having no need for a pilot or a wearer, this armor could be eighty percent the size of a normal marine. As a ranged damage dealer, the smaller size meant a smaller possibility of being attacked while maintaining the damage output.

The helmet of the marine was T shaped with a dim blue light shining out. Inside, a minimized CPU could hold a standard AI.

A C-14 gauss rifle was carried on the marine's back. Ammunition enough to fight an entire battle was stored in where the marine himself should go. A large blue combat shield was attached to the left arm of the unit. Usually a combat shield could only cover two-third of the marine, but now it could cover the entirety of the smaller version.

Swann saw Jean and immediately walked up to her.

"You're done."

He wiped his hand on his brown coat, trying to be more polite in front of the girl.

"Indeed." Jean smiled in return. She glanced around and saw the armory was empty except for the two of them. This project wasn't something every single Raider should know. "How are you doing with your part?"

After deciding to go along with Project Warden, Jean and Raynor went to their engineer and told him their plan. Neither of them could actually wield a hammer, and they needed someone who had both the skill and the loyalty for the job. Swann was the only choice.

Swann, obviously, didn't say no. Ever since a few days ago, he started working on the AI units. Half the Raider's bank was opened to the engineer, and with sufficient support, Swann showed Jean why he was given the position he held. The man had little education, but he didn't let that stop him.

"Here, 40 mechanical marines. Warden marines."

He repeated with the more formal term. "You give me forty AIs, and they can seriously kick some ass."

Swann was obviously proud of his work.

Jean nodded. Swann was a good engineer, but he wasn't exactly good with computers. In fact, none of the Raiders had the talent needed to build AIs. Even their adjutants were purchased, not build. After all, why would someone spend years studying in a certain category of science and then suddenly decide to abandon the bright future ahead of him or her and join the rebels? Scientists were always on demand, whether it was by the Dominion or the Umojan Protectorate. No one would choose the poor, pathetic Raiders over the safe and comfortable Dominion. The few scientists the Raiders had, Stetmann and Swann, didn't really receive any formal education and were forced into their position.

Luckily, Jean recently found herself more capable than she first imagined.

For some reason, when Jean tried to learn anything, whether it was tactics or something else, she could easily understand it. If she didn't know better, she would think she already learned that information before and was only reviewing it after not using the information for a while.

How good was she? When she arrived here a few days ago she knew nothing about computers. Now she could sit down in front of a computer and break down the code of an adjutant piece by piece and use that as a template for new AIs. All that transformation was done in days.

Jean didn't know why that was the case, but she had no intention of getting to the bottom of it. Instead, she merely abused the fact to her advantage.

In the end, Swann was in charge of the mechanical modification of the Warden units while Jean dealt with the programming of the inner AI.

Both done their part.

Jean took out a hard drive from her pocket and attached it to the center CPU of one of the Warden marines. The data was passed on into the heart of the mechanical unit. A soul was formed. A minute later the marine's T styled helmet, previously dim, shined in blue light.

Swann and Jean took a step back as the marine straightened up. The AI gained full control of the Warden marine suit. As soon as that was done, it started to act according to its programming.

Jean took a step forward.

"Lieutenant." The Warden marine saw Jean and immediately recognized who she was. In the background, a line of text appeared in its CPU.

 _Lieutenant. Jean Turner. Level Four authority._

Swann took a step in front and attracted the marine's attention while Jean moved back.

"Chief Engineer." Again, the Warden recognized Swann.

 _Chief Engineer. Rory Swann. Level Three authority._

Jean nodded. "One step forward."

The Warden marine took one step forward.

"One step back."

The unit complied.

"Enter battle position."

In the surface, the unit straightened up its combat shield with its left arm and reached its right arm behind its back, pulling out its gauss rifle. Normal terran biological units needed both arms to hold against the recoil of the gauss rifle, but the mechanical limb of the Warden marines was much stronger. Its legs pressed onto the metal floor and stabled its form so it could withstand the most impact without budging.

Out of sight, the sensors of the marine scanned all 360 degrees of around the unit. This way, it could never be surprised. Things like a zergling making a jump on the marine from behind would be eliminated.

The marine was designed to be ideal.

"I can't wait to see these bad boys in action." Swann tapped one of the deactivated marines in pride. There was nothing more satisfying for an engineer than to see his own work shine.

Jean wasn't as impressed. "We need more than forty marines to win a war. Can you produce any more of these units? Any other type of units? Maybe marauders, goliaths?"

Swann threw his hands up.

"I'll need more credits and a lot of time to develop new models. You also need to upgrade the chips you're coding. AIs for goliath will be much more advanced than AIs for marines."

"I will work on that. Meanwhile, I will make a report to the commander and plan out an infield experiment to see how these Warden units do in a real conflict."

Jean smiled.

"Now, if you don't have anything else…"

"Wait!" Swann suddenly remembered something. "I have something for you."

Jean rose her eyebrows and followed Swann to one of the shelves. The metal door opened, and Jean found herself staring at a brand white armor.

"What is it?" She asked, pretending to be intrigued.

"Your new armor." Swann said as if it explained everything.

And it did, to a degree.

This world was a dangerous place. In most cases, the commanders were capable of keeping themselves alive. Sure, the commanders should never be the one charging in the front, but that didn't mean the commanders were always safe.

Sometimes, under desperate situations, the guards might not be in place, and there might not always be a line of bodies the commanders could put between themselves and the enemies. If that happened and the fight was dragged near the commanders, then they would need to have some way of fighting. Even if they couldn't take down an army, they shouldn't be shot down by a random bullet.

Jean learned that the hard way. Back on Agria, she was forced to leave the safety of the command center and fight her way out of the zerg onslaught with nothing but a small gauss pistol. That was an extreme case, but the point still stood.

Generally, the protoss and the zerg didn't face the same problem. Every zerg could fight, even the broodmothers. In fact, the broodmothers were powerful both physically and psychically.

As for the protoss, every protoss commander started as a zealot and moved his or her way up the ranks. Every protoss commander could easily rain down a storm of death or draw his psi-blade in time of trouble.

But the terran...the human beings had neither the psionic power of the protoss nor the physical strength of the zerg. All they had were their tools, and a while into the war the commanders started to keep a set of armor around them.

These armors were usually stronger than their standard counterparts. Sometimes they carried special gadgets. Most of the terran commanders kept the armors in the storage when they didn't need it. As far as Jean knew, even Matt Horner had a pair of modified armor he kept in a compartment in the bridge. It was just that she never saw him wearing it. Raynor also had a set of grey armor he wore when he entered battle.

Some commanders preferred keeping their armor on at all times. In a way, this made them feel safe. That was one of the reasons why Raynor wasn't surprised that Tychus stayed in his giant blue armor all the time. In his armor, Tychus could melee zerglings and win. Without his armor, the man could be killed by a single shot to the head by a revolver.

Before this day, Jean never owned an armor. She was just a lieutenant, and there were dozens of people of her rank among the Raiders. The Raiders weren't wealthy enough to make a specially designed armor for her either. In fact they could barely afford to maintain the established weapons.

Now, things changed. With the recent successes, Jean was becoming more and more important. As one of the most important commanders in the rebel faction, Jean deserved some extra protection.

The change in financial situation among the Raiders also helped.

"Wow." Jean said in slight awe as she scanned the armor from top to bottom.

The armor was completely white. Even its mask was white. Just like other CMC armors, it covered every inch of its user. A cartridge before the armor's chest supplied the power. It didn't have a weapon on, but that could change anytime.

"What about the weapon?"

"This is just the basic template. I can add any weapon you want."

There could be a lot of variations among the specialized armors. Warfield, for example, had a large gun attached to his arm. Tychus had a chaingun and shredder grenades in his storage. Swann's armor and Stetmann's armor was specialized according to their specific favors. Swann's armor favored his engineering ability and allowed him to throw down turrets when needed. The nanobots in Stetmann's armor allowed him to heal friendly units.

Swann wasn't sure what type of category Jean favored. Sometimes this could be important. If he gave Stettman a sniper rifle and gave Raynor nanobots, the result would be...intriguing.

"What are my choices?"

"I've got gauss rifles, gauss pistols, commando rifles, grenade launchers, shredder grenades..." Swann walked to a drawer and pulled out an entire pile of weapons. "I can also make prototype weapons if you need something special."

"What do you suggest?"

Jean knew better than pretending to be good at something she wasn't actually good at. Sometimes consulting the professional could be fruitful.

Swann thought about it.

"Well, if it is up to me, I suggest you use this."

He pulled out a pair of pistols from one of the closets.

"If you don't mind, I don't think you are great with rifles...or just overall guns."

Jean nodded. That was true. She didn't have much experience with handling a gun.

"Since that's the case, giving you larger weapons like rifles and grenade launchers may not be the best choice. Guns are not the bigger the better, but the pistols don't require much experience."

He glanced at the pistols, as if worrying his words may insult Jean. Not everyone could acknowledge their weakness.

"Of course, I can also give you things like grenades to supplement your pistols."

"That should be enough." Jean smiled thankfully and joked. "If I need to get in that armor and use my pistols, then...well, I don't think two pistols would be any different from a chaingun."

Swann smiled as he realized the chaingun reference was done to Tychus. The criminal wasn't exactly welcomed among the Raiders, and Jean's remark of him permanently in his armor earned a smile from the engineer.

As Jean was about to leave Swann to do his job, the projection of an adjutant suddenly appeared in the armory.

"Lieutenant Turner. Chief Engineer Swann. The commander wants to see you in the bridge."

Swann groaned. "Now what?"

"The command received a transmission from from the planet Meinhoff."

"She needs help from the Raiders."

"Well," Jean looked at Swann. "At least you'll have a chance to see these units in action." She gestured at the Warden marines.

Swann shrugged.


	17. Chapter 17

"Sir, what is it?"

When Jean arrived at the bridge, Raynor was already done with the transmission with Dr. Hanson.

"I'll explain later. Matt, bring the ship to Meinhoff."

The rebel commander said quickly and explicitly. Every second wasted would mean countless more innocent being turned into zerg monsters.

"Yes sir."

The Hyperion waited for a few seconds before jumping into warp space. When they were on route, Raynor finally turned to a rather confused Jean.

"Dr. Hanson just called from Meinhoff. Apparently some sort of zerg virus is infesting the local refugee staging area. She needs our help to stop the infestation and rescue the refugees. The Dominion and the Kel-Morian don't give a damn about the refugees. We're their only hope."

Jean frowned.

"If I may ask, sir, how many infested terran will be on Meinhoff?"

"Hanson told me most of the planet fell. She and the last remaining survivors were holding up in an abandoned Kel-Morian defensive position."

"Sir, if Meinhoff was the staging area of all the refugees in the sector that wanted to escape from the zerg onslaught, then there would be millions of them at least. If the entire planet fell, then most of that millions of refugees are infested."

She paused.

"We have around four hundred men."

Granted, sometimes quality was better than quantity. A small group of elite fighters could defeat a large number of weaker units.

But that didn't mean numbers were pointless. The difference between millions and hundreds was way too much to be canceled by the difference in quality. Even if a thousand infested fell and only one Raider marine lost his life, the infestation would still stand while the entire Raynor's Raiders died.

Plus, the Raiders' advantage in quality wasn't that impressive. It's not like they had four hundred protoss high templars or elite ghosts. They were a mixture of ruthless mercenaries, Agrian rookies, and experienced veterans.

The Raiders had a battlecruiser that should go unchallenged on the planet, but the amount of infested meant that even if the Hyperion could empty its entire arsenal on the zerg, it would still be forced to leave with its tail between its legs while the zerg losses could be replaced in a few days.

Raynor realized the situation as well.

"We will not be engaging the zerg head on. The plan is to get in, hold the ground against the infested, and get the survivors out. All we need to do is hold the defensive position long enough."

"With all due respect sir, if we drag the fight out, we will be taking the full brunt of millions of infested." Jean didn't back down. "Bunkers can't save us."

"The Hyperion can go unchallenged. said the infested didn't have anti-air capabilities." Horner interrupted, backing Raynor up.

"One ship can't cover the entire base." Jean looked at the two commanders. "I suggest we take an alternate approach."

"We split into two groups. First, we dispatch a group of units to the refugee staging area and build a defensive formation. Their job is to delay the infested as long as possible."

Raynor was confused. "You just said the infested can easily overrun any defense we put up."

"True, but it will take time for them to build up the momentum needed. Millions of infested can't be deployed with the snap of a finger. The infested army is spread out around the planet, and it will take time for the broodmother to bring them together. The goal of that small army is to buy some time for the second battle group to act."

"Which is?"

"The second group, made up of the Hyperion and a small squad of elite mercenary forces, will circle around the planet and locate the commander of the zerg. The broodmother." Jean said. "Every infested is connected to the broodmother through a psionic network. If we take her out, then the zerg would no longer be on the offensive side. Best case scenario, they would slaughter each other to the last. Even in the worst case, the infested would wander around, waiting for a new psionic presence to take command. If that happens, the infested will no longer have enough forces to coordinate an attack on the refugees."

Horner and Raynor were really in awe. The idea of dividing the already lacking forces against an army ten thousand times larger was risky. Then again it might work.

The Raiders didn't have the time to bring all the survivors to safety because they didn't have enough transports, which meant they needed to use the few transports they had to ferry the survivors to different planets. This would take several turns and would require a long time, and the defenders might get overrun by the infested before they could get all the people out. Even with the help of the Raiders and the Hyperion, the defenses might not hold. Ships and guns had limited ammunition and men could get exhausted. The infested could trade units for ammunition and still win.

However, with a few scans and the absolute dominance of the air, the Hyperion could quite easily locate and destroy the broodmother.

The advantage in number of the infested was no longer as effective against a coordinated attack by terran elite strike teams and orbital bombardments. The Hyperion might not be able to kill millions of infested, but one broodmother was a totally different story.

Of course, the tactic was good, but that was by no means saying everything would go according to the plan. On the battlefield, the situation may change every second, and there was no way to plan for everything beforehand.

That being said, Jean's plan was better than get in, blindly defend, and hope they could get out in time.

"We'll go with your plan." Raynor finally decided.

* * *

When the Hyperion exited warp space above Meinhoff, all three commanders found themselves staring down on a largely purple planet.

Most of the planet was taken over by the zerg. The purple creep was the best proof.

The survivors set up a defensive formation in an abandoned Kel-Morian position. It was surrounded by cliffs for the most parts, and the only access inside were the four openings on the four sides. The tight position held tens of thousands of survivors. They were the last of the millions of refugees on this planet.

The local militias made up the defenders. With outdated weapons, depleted ammunition, and a will to fight to the death for their families, these men managed to hold their ground against the wave of infested.

Of course, if the infested could rally all their forces against this position, then they could easily overwhelm the position, but the millions of infested were spread out around the entire planet. Most of the other refugee bases around the planet fell, but some were still resisting futilely. Their sacrifice dragged some of the infested away and brought their comrades some more time.

When the familiar sight of the Hyperion exited warp space, Dr. Hanson, who rose to the position as the commander of the defenders, was almost in tears.

People who didn't feel it firsthand could never understand the thrill of seeing salvation while being stuck in a situation of almost certain death. Words couldn't describe her thankfulness. If Raynor was in front of her, she would gladly throw herself into his arms.

The last time, on Agria, the Raiders gave their lives to protect their lives. Now, once again, the Raiders came to risk their lives and protect the innocent. This selfish act, compared to the Dominion and the Kel-Morian who just left the refugees to die, had an amazing effect.

Hanson wasn't the only one impressed. Almost every survivor, militia or civilian, was staring into the sky and praising god for the turn of event. From what they could see, the giant battlecruiser was a symbol of ultimate power. They could undoubtedly burn the monsters that ravaged their homes and protect the refugees.

The common soldiers had no idea how bad the situation really was.

That was why they were so surprised when the Hyperion landed on an open field, dropped hundreds of units out, and lifted into the air and left the base.

"Jim?"

Hanson ran up to the rebel commander at the head of the forces. The man was in his typical grey armor. Behind him, hundreds of men entered battle stations.

War pigs and hammer securities acted expertly. They might not have dealt with the infested before, but their past experience with other enemies allowed them to respond faster and better than normal militias. Some of them built up fences around the choke points to slow the infested down. Others were more straightforward. They walked to the bunkers the militias were in and, with rather unkind words, ordered them to come out. The militias had no chance of standing against the mercenaries as some of them were dragged out and others walked out in confusion. They were quickly replaced by the much more elite soldiers.

The five goliaths of the Raiders found themselves a firing position as well. They stood at points that allowed them to open fire freely. When the battle started, they could unleash countless tons of lead among the infested.

The Mar Sara marines, those with Raider from the very beginning, were almost as elite as the mercenaries. The only difference was they were slightly more polite as they moved. The few medics among them checked their nanobots once again. If these gadgets broke down in the middle of a fight, then the price might be human lives.

The agrian marines might be the slowest of them all. They were just with the Raiders for days, and they never participated in a battle. Still, a few orders from several Mar Sara sergeants brought them back on their feet.

"Doctor." Raynor turned around and smiled when he saw the woman in white. "I was hoping we could meet due to a better reason."

"Jim, why did your ship leave?" Hanson smiled as well but still asked. She was no military expert, but she did know it was better to have a battlecruiser than not have one.

"They're on another task." Raynor replied confidently.

"Shouldn't they be helping you protect the colonists?" Hanson asked.

"They have another plan. Now, what is the situation?"

"There are four entrances to this place. We have sealed off all four of them with abandoned vehicles, but the infested are making their way through the blockades."

Infested claws could rip a way through CMC armors. They had little trouble going through civilian vehicles and whatever else the colonists could throw at them.

"And the high grounds?" The base was surrounded by cliffs.

"The infested can't go through them. They're too high."

"My man will secure the entrances and buy time for Matt and Jean to make her move." Raynor readied his gun and looked at the entrances, satisfied to see they were blocked by his men already. The mercenaries might not be the nicest bar customers, but they were brilliant combatants.

Hanson frowned at the name of Jean Turner.

For some reason, she always had a strange feeling from this certain lieutenant. She didn't know why, but she didn't trust Jean. All of her plans were clever and usually successful, but if it was up to Hanson she would think twice before completely listening to everything she said.

Her instinct told her there was something wrong about this girl.

Perhaps it was when Jean told her to move all the colonists together for transportation back on Agria. No. It wasn't that. Any competent commander would've done that. That didn't make Jean special.

It was when Jean first woke up in the med bay of the Hyperion. When the girl woke up, Hanson found every word she spoke to be calm and calculated. A normal person who was almost sliced up by a zergling would've woke up with a haunted look, but Jean wasn't. It was as if she just woke up from a nap.

That was not right.

"Do you trust her?" She suddenly asked.

Raynor looked at Hanson like she just asked the stupidest question in the world.

"Of course I do."

"Why wouldn't I?"


	18. Chapter 18

The Hyperion flew across the sky of Meinhoff.

Jean looked out the window of the bridge and glanced at the creep that covered the vast majority of the planet.

Creep was one of the most powerful "weapons" of the swarm. While they couldn't do damage, they could deliver nutrition to zerg units and make it easier for them to move, attack, and heal. A zerg on creep was much stronger than a zerg off creep. The organisms that generated creep, creep tumors, were also technically alive and had connections to the zerg psionic network. They could deliver what they felt to the broodmother in command. In a way, they were the eyes and ears of the swarm. Their presence made sure that any attacker that tried to sneak onto zerg territory would be noticed the moment he touched the creep.

The fact that the creep covered most of the planet meant most of the planet was under complete zerg domination. It wouldn't take long for the infested forces to be freed and be sent to the position the survivors were at. The infested weren't the fastest units, but the creep covered that problem.

The Raiders needed to hurry up.

"Have you located the broodmother?" She turned to Horner. The captain has been patrolling the Hyperion over the planet and scanning for a special psionic scent.

Broodmothers were much more powerful psionically compared to normal infested terran units. They gave off a much stronger scent that scanners from the Hyperion could catch onto. Once that scent was caught, the Hyperion could unleash its firepower upon the foul commander.

"Not yet." Horner replied without moving his eyes off the computer screen. The broodmother's scent was obvious, but it was a huge planet, and unless they were extremely lucky it would take a while for the Hyperion to stumble upon where the broodmother was.

Jean nodded and turned back to outside the window.

* * *

In one of the entrances at the colonist base, two marines stood side by side.

The first layer of the entrance was a blockade made up of a layer of abandoned vehicles at the front of the road. In a state of panic, the colonists threw everything they had in the way of the infested, but unlike zombies in horror movies, infested terran weren't mindless beasts. Infested terran were bio-weapon of one of the most advanced races in the sector. A wall couldn't stop them.

Even now, both marines could hear the sound of mutated claws going through metal. The infestation gifted the infested terran with all sorts of weapons, and claws capable of going through metal was one of them.

The second line of defense was made up of human bodies in the middle of the entrance. Marines and bunkers could gun down most of the incoming horde that came over the wall, or at least that was the plan. Around 80 men were at this entrance alone.

The third and the final line of defense was a line of empty bunkers at the end of the road. They weren't occupied, yet, but if things really got worse the marines at the second line could fall back to the third. Reserves, a squad of fifty war pigs that Raynor kept with himself, could be deployed as well.

The two marines were at the second line. All the bunkers were full, so they were unfortunate enough to be stuck in the open. The bunkers were much safer than the open, but they were already occupied by ruthless mercenaries. These elite veterans weren't polite enough to leave the safe haven to their comrades at the cost of their own safety.

One of the marines was an elite. His standard helmet and blue armor distinguished him from war pigs, who had T shaped helmets, and Agrian militias, who had white stripes on their blue armors. That only left one identity, and that was one of the original Raiders.

The way the man rested his gauss rifle next to his shoulder softly also indicated that. His large shield was positioned to cover most of his body and all of his critical body parts, leaving just his legs out vulnerable. It made sure his chance of survival was as large as possible.

Behind him, his fellow sister in arm was completely different. A white stripe on the side of her armor meant this rookie came from Agria. The armor hid her shaking body, but her deep breath couldn't be covered by her armor. A large shield was in her grip. Her CMC armor made sure she could hold onto the heavy defense with ease, but she was still constantly adjusting the position of the shield. It was as if every single position she took was wrong and would result in her painful demise the moment battle truly started.

The veteran looked at his comrade and saw a shadow of himself back in his first battle years ago. Marines weren't even given combat shields back then. He was also constantly moving and checking his gauss rifle, not that it helped in any way shape or form when the battle started.

"You should calm yourself." He said through his opened helmet. Standard protocol called for all marines to keep their helmets shut at all times, but some marine preferred to keep their helmets open so they could talk with their comrades. All of the marines were equipped with radios that everyone in their squad had access to, but some things shouldn't be said in public.

Of course, when the fighting truly began almost every marine would shut their helmets for maximum security, but the battle hasn't started yet.

The female marine heard the man and opened her helmet as well.

"What?" Her mouth was dry.

"I said you should calm down. You're just wasting your energy."

The female marine gulped.

"I came from Agria." She suddenly said.

The man glanced at the white stripe on the female marine's shoulder but didn't say anything. He knew the female marine didn't say what she said because she wanted to socialize. She was trying to distract herself and bring down her stress level. All he had to do was be quiet and listen.

"My mother died when I was 12. My father was a miner." She paused. "When the zerg came down from the sky, he took out a rifle he kept and tried to protect me. He didn't make it. A zerg. A zergling," She emphasized on the name. Her teeth held tight. "ripped open his throat. He died right in front of my eyes. You know what I did?"

She didn't wait until the male marine to answer.

"I picked up the gun on the ground and emptied the magazine into the zergling's head."

The elite marine looked at him, feeling slightly sorry for her, but he knew this was not a special occurrence. Individual civilians abandoned by the Terran Dominion had no way of fending for themselves. Death wasn't even the worst possibility. Infestation was.

"I'm lucky Dr. Hanson found me. I was brought to her camp. The militias needed everyone that could find, and they had more armors than their men needed, so I was given an armor and a rifle and drafted into the militia. The plan was to escort all the colonists to the transports in one wave. It was a terrible plan, but it was the only one."

"I thought I wouldn't make it, but I didn't care. I no longer want to live. My mom died. My dad died. Everyone I cared and loved died at the hand of these damned beasts. What is there to live for?" She gestured at the other end of the wall.

"Then the Raiders came. You came. Countless dropships came down from the sky like an army from heaven. You guys saved us. You guys, a bunch of rebels, stood by us when the might of the Terran Dominion fled with their tails between their legs."

"I am just an ordinary woman. I have nothing to repay you by. All I can do is join you guys and repay your kindness with my life."

"Plus, the Dominion abandoned us and the zerg slaughtered us. Only in the Raiders can I make both of them suffer."

Both went silent as the female marine felt tears down her cheek, but she was no longer afraid. Instead, her heart was filled by something called faith.

Faith in justice. Faith in the Raiders.

"Get ready!" The veteran marine suddenly warned. The female marine turned and saw a hole in the wall. One of the civilian vehicles was reduced into a pile of scrap, and its absence left an opening.

A figure went through the opening. It was a human being, or at least it used to be a human being. The civilian clothes on him suggested he used to be a colonist, but the tentacles coming out of his mouth and the pustule on half his head suggested otherwise. A layer of purple covered his skin. His fingers were long and sharp. The female marine could see a few of his fingers were broken, a price of going through the metal, but the infested didn't seem to have felt a single sense of pain. Even if it did, the pain didn't make the infested terran hesitate or falter.

The female marine's face turned pale. The creature before her was a man a few hours ago, and now it was literally a monster. She couldn't imagine what type of horror the man went through to be turned into something like this.

Suddenly, she shivered. Can the man still feel? Can the soul within that twisted body still feel the monster it was being turned into? Can it still see and feel when it dug its claws into its own people?

The female marine didn't know about the others, but she would rather die than be infested.

The infested terran growled and charged forward. Struggling to conceal her urge to throw up, the female marine put her index finger on the trigger of the rifle and, with one last look at the infested, pulled.

Her dragged out firing was clear in the middle of short bursts. Experienced troopers, like mercenaries and Mar Sarans, knew to use short bursts of bullets to save ammunition while still doing sufficient damage, but someone as new and frightened as the female marine didn't share the same consideration.

The infested colonist was instantly ripped apart, but he was just the beginning. More and more holes were punched open by the swarm, and countless infested charged across the opening and at the line of defense.

All the bunkers and all the marines opened fire. A storm of bullets washed over the army of the infested. Almost instantly, every single infested that moved past the wall was torn apart. Their mutated carapace shattered like paper.

Yet they were just the tip of the iceberg. More and more infested went through the opening. Some even climbed over the obstacles.

The marines kept on firing.

* * *

In the bridge, a crew member suddenly turned to his captain with an excited look on his face.

"Sir, scanners have located a psionic signal different from normal zerg units. It should be the broodmother."

Horner walked to the scanner. "Where?"

The crew member looked at the screen again and suddenly frowned.

"That's weird…"

"What?"

"I think...I think the signal came from underground."

"It's an underground tunnel." Jean realized. "The broodmother is smart. She knows she doesn't have the firepower to challenge our ship, so she wants to keep herself safe at all cost." She turned to Horner. "Can the Hyperion's guns go through an underground tunnel and still have enough power to kill a broodmother?"

"Depends on the depth of the tunnel." Horner was obviously unsatisfied by relying on hope.

"Then we need to do two things. First, fire a Yamato Cannon on the cave, then send another strike team down to make sure the broodmother is dead and finish her off if needed."

Horner nodded. The Yamato Cannon should be able to finish off most of the resistance, and the fifty elite mercenary reapers he kept on the ship were for this exact purpose. They should be enough to deal with any type of trouble.

Half a minute later, the tip of the Hyperion started to glow. Countless energy was combined into a single orange orb of destruction. Air evaporated as the ball of energy smashed onto the surface part of the tunnel.

WIth an ear piercing explosion, everything within a one kilometer radius of the point of impact disappeared. Infested terran were melted. Infested buildings were destroyed. A large hole formed at where the tunnel used to be.

"Sir, the psionic signature is still present." A crew member delivered the bad news. The Yamato Cannon was powerful, but the broodmother went deep. The layers of earth was enough to protect the broodmother.

"Well then," Horner tapped his earpiece. "Captain, get your men into the drop pods."

At the bottom of the ship, the reaper captain and forty nine of his men were waiting in front of ten drop pods. These devices could bring them to the surface of the planet as quickly and as safely as possible.

"Yes sir." The reaper captain replied as his men started to jump into the pods without a single moment of hesitation. They knew the risk of the mission, but these maniacs weren't exactly known for their rational thinking.

"Wait a second." Jean suddenly interrupted. "May I suggest something?"

Horner looked at Jean, waiting for her to speak.

"I suggest the Warden marines go with the reapers. They will be very helpful in going through the infested and taking down the broodmother."

Horner knew about the Warden marines as well, but he didn't think this was the brightest idea. "This is not the time for experiments, Jean." If the Warden marines malfunctioned in the field, then the rest of the team would be put at risk and the entire mission might be compromised.

"I have faith in myself and Swann." Jean insisted.

Horner took a few seconds to think about this and finally agreed. Forty pairs of extra boots on the ground could be of great help to the mission. Plus, Jean wasn't the insignificant lieutenant she was when Raynor first got on the Hyperion. The several successful missions she commanded boosted her authority. Even Horner needed to put her thoughts under serious consideration.

He could deny her proposal if he needed to, but he wouldn't do it unless he absolutely needed to.

A few minutes later, eighteen drop pods were launched at the hole on the ground.


	19. Chapter 19

An infested colonist collapsed with one hole in his head and two in his chest.

The female marine didn't know if it was the eighth or the ninth infested she put down. Or maybe it was the tenth? She lost count of her kills a while ago.

Her shots were no longer the amateur continuous strings. After depleting half her arsenal in the first minutes, she realized that she needed to be more careful, so she started learning from what other, more experienced, marines did.

The battlefield was one of the best places to learn. It didn't take long for the female marine to learn to condense her bullets into precise bursts.

It had been almost ten minutes since the first infested got past the wall. Since then, the infested kept on pouring in. At first it was just one or two through the breaches and the marines could easily gun them down, but as time passed more and more of the wall fell apart, and the infested started coming in dozens at a time. The marine firing turned from short, patient shots to rapid bursts as the Raiders tried to put down every single infested.

As of now, dead infested formed a pile of bodies almost as high as the wall itself, and not one of the infested managed to make it to the Raiders.

Unfortunately, a large portion of the Raider arsenal was gone. Every single marine was given a large amount of bullets before the mission, but the continuous firing and the firing rate of the gauss rifles made the bullet count drop faster than ever.

A string of clear cracks came from behind the female marine. She sneaked a look and realized it was the goliath at the back opening fire on the pile of zerg. The support unit had been quiet the entire time because a few infested weren't worth his precious autocannon rounds, but now that the infested were in large numbers, the autocannons could truly shine.

Dozens of bursts of blood erupted in front of the crowd of infested, and all of those shot either lost a large part of their chest or a limb. Autocannons technically did single target damage, but their penetration capability allowed them to go through the bodies of the infested in the front and hit those in the back.

The female marine pulled her trigger again, but instead of the familiar feeling of her arm shaking in recoil, she heard a loud tap in her helmet that warned her of a lack of ammunition.

She almost automatically reached into the storage space of her armor and touched nothing.

She wasted too many bullets at the start of the battle. When everyone else were still opening fire, she was out of shots.

The female marine frowned. Staying in the battlefield with an empty rifle not a good idea. She turned around to the veteran marine, wanting to ask for help.

That was when she heard a gunshot deeper than standard gauss rifles. The next second the veteran marine collapsed with a hole in his helmet.

His bulletproof combat shield fell on the ground. Usually terran marines wouldn't be killed by a single bullet. Their combat shields could deflect most of the bullets while the body platings of their CMC armors made sure the gauss bullets couldn't do significant damage. A bullet to the head could've went through the high density glass and kill the man, but the helmet was very small compared to the size of the entire marine. Anyone who had sufficient carefulness and some luck would be able to cover their head.

But the infested couldn't shoot back, or at least that was what the Raiders thought. Almost every marine lowered their shields in favor of an easier firing position, exposing their head in the open. That wasn't the wisest decision, but in the horror of the battle even the most experienced warriors would make mistakes, and sometimes the price of the mistake was a marine life.

When being shot in the head, a veteran was no different from a fresh recruit.

The man's heavy armor made a loud sound as it hit the ground. Beside the body, the female marine's mouths hang open in shock.

"What the hell was that?" The voice of the marine's captain appeared in the radio. The infested themselves weren't that surprising. Infested terran appeared in the Brood War as well, but infested terran that could use weapons? That was a new kind of horror.

Above the mountain of dead, an infested popped his head out. Unlike the infested civilians with colonist clothing, this infested wore a CMC armor. He was a militia marine. He used to be the protector of the colonists, but now he was their nightmare. A gauss rifle was connected to his tentacled right arm.

As if inspired by his first kill, the infested marine raised his rifle and fired again. Bullets started flying, but this time it came from the side of the infested.

Unfortunately, the Raiders have recovered from the initial shock already. Their past experience with fighting other terran forces saved their lives as they hid themselves behind bunkers and combat shields. The gauss bullets could only graze the bunkers and slightly shake the combat shields.

Raiders marine fired back, killing the infested marine instantly, but more and more infested marine poked their head out of the half destroyed wall and started firing.

The Raiders retaliated.

The female marine knelt down on the ground and raised her combat shield. Her body shook continuously as she felt her shield shaking as bullets hit it.

She knew she needed to get more ammunition. Being pinned down like this with no way of fighting back wasn't the brightest idea.

She set her eyes on the dead marine…

* * *

The drop pods hit the ground and came to a screeching halt. The red light that previously glowed in the drop pods turned green, telling the reapers it was safe to exit.

The reaper captain coughed. The shock absorber built in the drop pods saved the occupants from being killed the moment the pods hit the ground, but the crash landing was by no means an entertaining way to travel.

Still, knowing the urgentness of the situation, he didn't complain or curse. Instead, he merely glanced at the two reapers at the entrance of the drop pod, and the two men opened the door and jumped out. The rest of the reapers followed.

All eighteen drop pods landed very close to their meant destination. The fifty reapers quickly assembled together. Their weapons were ready for any infested that were attracted by the landing, but no enemies came. All the infested near the tunnel were killed by the Yamato Cannon.

The reaper captain counted his men and suddenly frowned as he remembered something. He turned around and looked at the eight drop pods that didn't belong to the reapers.

Not one man came out.

The captain didn't know who were in these drop pods. All he knew was these men were friendly.

In the Hyperion, Horner looked at Jean questioningly. He had faith in both her and Swann, but he couldn't help but think the Warden marines somehow malfunctioned.

Jean didn't see the doubtful look of the captain. She tapped a silver earpiece in her right ear.

"Warden Squad M001. Activate all units. Form formation outside drop pods."

In one of the drop pods, all five Warden marines, previously dormant, were suddenly turned on. Their T visors shined in blue. Simultaneously, they stood up, held onto their shields, reached behind and grabbed their rifles, and turned to the exit.

The AIs within the Warden marines connected to the Warden network and started processing. One by one they exited the drop pods.

Outside, the reaper captain stared in awe as all eight pods opened at the exact same second. Eight lines of marines walked out in a machine-like fashion. Without a word, they formed a rectangular formation.

"Ahhh…" The reaper captain's mouth hung open, not knowing what to say or do.

Neither Jean nor Horner wanted to explain to the captain who the Warden marines were. The captain might be employed by the Raiders, but he was a mercenary, and he worked for Mira Han. Mira wasn't an enemy, but she definitely wasn't a friend. There was no reason to tell her one of the Raiders' best cards.

"Proceed with your mission, captain. These men will support you."

The reaper captain nodded. It wasn't a mercenaries' creed to question his employer.

Without much conversation, the reapers and the marines reached the entrance of the target. The original entrance was ripped apart, revealing a dark hallway that led downwards.

There wasn't any sort of light in the tunnel. Zerg units didn't need to use their eyes to see, and a dark environment might be able to act as a defense against hostile terran units, who were severely weaker without their sight.

The reapers were equipped with night vision goggles, but they were always more troublesome, and sometimes a few seconds of delay might be the difference between life and death.

Without wasting any more time, the reapers jumped down the mouth of the beast.

The Warden marines followed...

"Uh." One of the reapers complained as he stepped on a pile of purple goo. Cursing, he stamped his feet on the soft ground.

The reapers were approaching in a formation as scattered as possible. Their gauss pistols were ready to open fire on a moment's notice.

The Warden marines formed two tight groups. One of them was in front of the reapers and the other was behind. Suddenly, simultaneously, the marines stopped.

"What the?" The reaper captain frowned.

Thirty nine of the forty marines had blue Ts in their helmets, but one of them had a purple T. It was the captain of the Warden marines. It was equipped with a slightly more advanced AI, a stronger armor and weapon, and a set of advanced scanners. Jean designed this unit to command other Warden units and deal with abnormal situations as she couldn't constantly monitor everything in the field. Its slightly stronger ability to comprehend might be helpful in certain occasions.

As all the marines stopped, the Warden captain turned around and walked to the reaper captain. His heavy legs slammed down on the ground with every step. His purple helmet shined dimly in the dark tunnel.

The reapers gripped onto their pistols tightly, slightly aiming at the marines.

"What is it?" The reaper captain said both impatiently and cautiously. The sooner he could complete this mission the better.

Plus, he didn't see any reason these Raiders would want them dead, but the mercenary part inside him couldn't help but stay alert. Backstabbing wasn't a strange thing in their line of work.

"Zerg units detected in front." The marine spoke with a mechanical voice.

The reaper captain was confused. The mechanical voice of the marine could be a result of some sort of odd communication device, but there was no reason behind the meaning of the marine's words.

"I don't see no zerg."

The reaper captain was experienced, but he never fought against the swarm before. His combat experience against terran forces didn't help him to maneuver against the zerg. The closest thing he had compared to this mission was one time when he and his squad took out a group of feral zerg and secured a mining facility. The feral zerg were fierce, but they were stupid. All they did was charge at the reapers and be gunned down. Subconsciously the reaper captain thought the zerg were simply beasts whose tactics were limited to attack and retreat.

He never knew the zerg could burrow. None of the feral zerg burrowed, and his past experience with the feral zerg made him underestimate the swarm.

Neither Raynor nor Horner thought about the problem with experience. Since they were extremely experienced with fighting both the Overmind's Brood and Kerrigan's Swarm, they subconsciously thought it was the same with everyone else. In reality only very few mercenaries had the chance to take on the zerg swarm and still be alive enough to keep being a mercenary. Most of the times experience against the zerg didn't matter and a few files about the basic information about zerg units were enough, but in a situation like this the knowledge of how infested terran attack simply wasn't enough.

"Incorrect. Zerg units are detected in front." The Warden captain repeated. Its AI calculated the situation and realized that the ideal response was a coordinated attack between the Warden marines and the mercenary reapers.

"What the hell? We need to get moving!" One of the reapers groaned impatiently. The heart of the swarm wasn't the best place to start an argument. The infested near the tunnel were taken down by the Yamato Cannon, but reinforcements were certainly on the way. The more time they wasted, the more likely they would be caught inside the tunnel by an endless wave of infested.

"Step aside." The reaper captain finally demanded loudly. "I don't know who you are, but I've got a job to do. Step aside."

If the Warden captain was a human being, then he would know to contact Jean and use her to inform the reaper captain what happened, but it was an AI, and all it knew was to deal with the enemy forces directly.

Since the reapers couldn't help them, the Warden captain AI went to the next best thing, which was to take down the zerg by the Warden marines themselves.

Without wasting another word, the Warden captain turned around and retreated to among its fellow comrades. The reaper captain took a breath of relief and wanted to keep going forward and get the job done, but that was when he saw the marines raising their rifles.

The reapers raised their pistols at the marines.

"Wait!" It was fortunate the reaper captain stopped his men. He realized the marines were pointing their guns forward...but the space before them was empty…

Twenty rifles opened fire. The gauss bullets formed a web of death as they smashed into the ground in front of the squad.

The sound of infested screeching covered the tunnel.

The reaper captain gulped.


	20. Chapter 20

Realizing they were discovered, over fifty infested terran leaped out of the ground. The ambush failed, but there was always the option of swarming the enemies with brute force.

Fortunately, the Warden marines responded just in time, and all the burrowed infested terran were in front of the terran strike team. This meant all the Warden marines needed to do was focus all their firepower in one direction, and all the infested terran would be mowed down like crops in a harvest.

The infested civilians collapsed one by one. On one hand the narrow hallway meant the infested could jump all around the terran forces and they would be forced into melee with the infested with nowhere to fall back to, which was never a good thing.

On the other hand, it meant the infested could only take the full brunt of the firepower of the Warden marines now that they were exposed. They charged fiercely, but only a couple could move forward at the same time, and they were faced with twenty rifles.

At the end of the tunnel, the broodmother, behind the guard of hundreds of infested, felt the psionic presence of the infested terran standing guard at the tunnel disappearing one by one. She knew the presence of the terran a while ago, but she thought she could deal with them. Now, she realized the terran forces were much stronger than she imagined, and the trap she set up was being wiped out.

She had millions of infested under her command, but most of them needed time to arrive. For now, every unit mattered. As long as she could live until reinforcements arrive, she would be the final victor of this exchanged.

The broodmother passed down a psionic order in the zerg hivemind. The moment the order was given, in the tunnel, the sea of infested terran suddenly retreated. The marines fired at them, but they simply turned and ran. When the smoke cleared, the infested were nowhere to be seen. Only the several dozen bodies on the ground reminded the terran of their formal encounter.

The reapers were paralyzed in fear. If the Warden marines weren't here, then they would be walking into a trap. Reapers' strength laid in their maneuverability and firepower, not their melee ability. They weren't firebats. If they were surrounded, they would be ripped apart. Even if they survived the hundreds of infested, that was just the outer sentries. They would have no chance of completing their mission.

"Ahh...thanks." The reaper captain walked up to the purple helmeted Warden marine. He had to admit at first he was frowning upon this group of mysterious allies, but now he was simply glad. As an experienced mercenary, he knew very well how a group of capable allies could help in a situation like this. The chance of surviving for both him and his men multiplied several times just by the presence of the Warden marines.

The Warden captain looked at him, but his AI was programmed for combat purposes only. It didn't respond to the gratitude.

"Advance."

The reaper captain was slightly taken back, but he nonetheless nodded and complied without the slightest fragment of grudge. It was normal for people to be rude, as long as they had the skill to back it up. Skilled people being rude was called pride. It was only arrogance when people didn't have the skill and still wanted to be above everyone else.

The Warden units have proved their skills to the reapers, and now the man was totally fine with being ignored.

Waving his hand, the reapers moved forward behind the Warden marines.

As they moved, occasionally the Warden marines would open fire on certain locations, and the few infested that the broodmother left as scouts were shot dead. Only the Warden captain had advanced scanners capable of detecting burrowed units, but the Warden network allowed the captain to notify normal Warden units of the enemy's presence.

All the way infested units kept on coming. Unlike the full scale assault the infested usually approached with, this time only a couple infested came at a time. They weren't meant to do damage to the terran strike team. They were meant to waste terran bullets. Out of all three races, terran might be the race that relied most heavily on ammunition. Most terran units were reduced to scraps without their precious bullets.

Just because marines had blades on the tip of their rifles didn't mean they were melee units.

* * *

A loud crack appeared as the M98 ballistic alloy combat shield of a mercenary marine fell apart. It was made of 30 mm of bonded carbide, but it had taken dozens of shots in the past minutes.

The war pig holding the shield demonstrated why he was a highly paid mercenary and was still alive. As soon as the shield fell, with astonishing decisiveness, he covered his head with his left arm and rolled over.

Several bullets hit him in the armor and one of them went for his head, but none of them reached anywhere critical. The marine quickly found himself behind the cover of the meters of steel of a bunker. He was wounded but alive.

"Fall back!"

The Raider captain glanced at the infested. The mountain of bodies have gone so high that the living infested could barely be distinguished from the dead. All the marines could see was a wave of gauss rifles firing at them among the pile of flesh. Some of the marines bit their lips and suppressed their urge to vomit. Their suits sealed off the smell, but it was as if the foul scent of the broken flesh could still reach the marines through their armors.

There was too much infested. The Raider captain estimated at least six hundred dead, but three times that number have taken the place of the fallen. He glanced into a distance and could only see seas of flesh. It was as if they infested hadn't been taking the punishment of over a hundred elite terran soldiers.

The second line of defense could no longer be maintained. Most of the Raiders ran out of bullets, and even if they did they have lost the positional advantage and were pinned down. The infested were powering through with their sheer power. Nonetheless, that didn't mean the Raiders were doomed.

There was a reason Raynor's Raiders could survive against the Dominion against all odds. They were slick bastards, and they always had a trick up their sleeves.

As the order was given, the units within the bunkers exited first. They ran toward the third line for twenty meters before kneeling down behind cover in shooting position. As they were in place, the rest of the Raiders turned and retreated, forming a line of defenses twenty meters behind the first layer of men, who were firing on the advancing infested. This type of coordinated retreat meant the infested could never take advantage of the retreat and swarm upon the defenseless Raiders.

The female marine let loose another string of bullets at the infested before turning and running. Her combat shield faced the side of the infested and covered most of her body. She ran past one of the Raiders when the man suddenly caught her by the arm.

She frowned and looked at the marine, but the latter simply pointed at the ground before turning back and laying down suppressing fire.

The female marine stood for a few seconds and realized something. She moved slowly and looked at the ground more closely, and came to the understanding that the ground she was about to step onto wasn't exactly solid ground.

Understanding what was going to happen, she smirked, turned back and looked at the infested again, and moved by through a certain path.

As all the Raiders reached the third line of defense, the infested were already over the second. Bunkers were ripped apart, but all the infested found were used bullet shells. Nothing else. Even the few dead bodies were carried back to safety. The Raiders had no intention of letting their fallen brothers be turned to the monsters they died fighting.

The infested weren't frustrated. Their order was to take down the entire settlement, and that line of defense was just the first step. They charged at the third line of the Raiders.

A few marines aimed their rifles at the infested.

"Hold your fire."

The calm voice of the Raider captain in command of this battle group made these men think twice.

Some of the marines were confused, but the female marine was not one of them. Instead, she held a satisfied grin. What she saw justified the lack of firing.

The first infested reached the halfway point between the second line and the third line before suddenly collapsing into a large pit. The pit wasn't that deep and the fall wasn't enough to kill the infested, but judging from the several spikes that went through the infested's body and limbs, the zerg unit wouldn't be in combat condition anytime soon.

The half a dozen infested following the first infested saw the fate of their predecessor. Their mutated brains devised the best course of action, which was to stop. Unfortunately, the thousands of infested following didn't share the same knowledge. The zerg psionic network connected the basic zerg units to overlords to broodmothers. It didn't create a pathway between individual zerg units. Even if it did, cannon fodders like infested terran would be the last to be mutated.

The sheer momentum of the army smashed into the infested that tried to stop themselves, pushing them into the pit and onto the columns of sharp pikes.

Some of the infested was pierced through the head and was killed instantly, but most of the infested survived with some sort of injury. The only problem was alive didn't mean in battle condition. Even the infested couldn't heal with several pieces of steel _inside_ their bodies. Plus, infested couldn't exactly get up when they were _under_ a pile of fellow infested, especially since that pile was constantly growing.

Behind one of the bunkers, the female marine smiled. While she and the fellow Raiders were holding their ground at the second line, the colonists have dug open a trap for the infested. Their mining vehicles and all sort of pikes might not be effective against the full scale attack of the infested, but if they were put to good use, they might just save the Raiders and the entire colony from destruction.

The infested kept pouring into the pit. When those in the back pushed those before them down the pit, they themselves became the front, and when they saw the danger and tried to catch themselves, they were the ones pushed down to hell.

The pit didn't cover the entire width of the entrance, but the safe passages meant for Raiders to go through were narrow and well covered. The infested were too stupid to locate them, and the few infested that were lucky enough to stumble upon the passages were picked off by gauss shots.

The cycle went on and on.

Usually the bioweapon of a race as powerful as the zerg shouldn't be this vulnerable against a few traps used in the medieval ages, but the situation was oddly in favor of the terran.

First, the infested used group assault so they could use their number as an advantage and take down the terran defenders as quickly as possible. The literal sea of flesh could break the spirit of most armies and send them fleeing to their transports. Even if all else failed, the terran defenders could peel off the first couple layers of the tight formation before being ripped apart by those behind. Even if the infested lost a thousand units on the way to the bunkers, they would still easily overwhelm the terran marines. Anything the terran had, whether it was marines, marauders, firebats, or even goliaths, would be overrun by the wall of infested.

It was always going to be a worthy trade for the zerg. Infested terran used to be terran, and all the broodmother spent was some resource to spread the virus to them. To a degree, the terran forces were killing their own people.

Unfortunately, this tight formation also meant the infested couldn't catch themselves in time without being pushed forward by their fellow infested.

Of course, a single order from the zerg broodmother could stop the entire army, but the broodmother was a bit occupied with her own safety.

Meanwhile, in the command center in the middle of the fortification, Raynor frowned at the hologram projection the adjutant was showing him.

The Raiders fought bravely, but the infested were simply too much. It didn't matter that a goliath could take down half a dozen infested civilians with one shot because by the time the round was reloaded twenty fresh infested would've already arrived.

All across the field the Raiders have pulled back to the third line of defense. The infested were tight on their tails.

The traps the colonists put down worked much better than Raynor imagined. He fully expected the zerg to take action after the first dozen infested fell, literally, and the infested losing hundreds of units by a few holes in the ground was not expected. Of course, he wasn't complaining.

But he needed as much time as possible. From what Horner just told him, the Raider strike team was still on the move. It would take them a while to reach the broodmother, much less kill her.

"Sir, the infested have engaged the third line of defense at entrance Charlie. Raider units are maintaining their ground. Tactical analysis shows Raider units will fall shortly." As always, the adjutant rained a wave of negativity on the rebel commander.

"Dispatch twenty war pigs there." Raynor bit his lips as he realized how desperate his order sounded. Sending twenty marines to counter thousands of zerg was not the wisest move.

"All vikings pilots, make a hit on the infested at entrance Charlie and wait for further orders."

The five vikings the Raiders had weren't piloted by the elitist pilots. Compared to Dominion experts who could literally land on zerglings, crush them, and lift off to fight in the air, these amateurs could barely land in an absolutely secure environment without crashing. However, that didn't mean they were useless. Viking anti air torpedoes, when positioned correctly, could easily act as anti ground bombardment.

Hearing the order, the five viking pilots, all in their cockpits and waiting for orders, took action. Within seconds, these fighters were in the air, completely unchallenged.


	21. Chapter 21

In entrance Alpha, the female marine sat behind a bunker. Her legs were crossed as she quietly watched the infested constantly collapse into the pit. There was no need for her to fire. The infested were already crippling or killing themselves.

The trap that was designed to delay the infested for a few minutes literally stopped their advance and crippled their numbers. This was better than anything the Raiders ever hoped for. Just like Raynor, the foot soldiers had no idea why, but they weren't complaining either.

This pause gave the Raiders an opportunity to talk.

"These idiots. How many zerg do you think are in that pit?" One of the marines said casually in the squad radio as continuous screeches came from the other side of the defenses.

The squad radio was designed to allow squad captains to reach their men as efficiently as possible, and normally it was against the rules to use it for recreational purposes, but it had been a tough fight, and even the strictest captain wouldn't blame their men for taking a few chats.

"Nevermind the numbers." Another marine, judging from her voice she was a woman, complained. "They really stink! I can't until we get back to the Hyperion and take a bath." It was less of the actual smell but more of the visual effect of seeing hundreds of bodies forming a pile before her own eyes.

"These zerg are really creeping me out." One of the hammer securities joined the conversation. He was used to dealing with Dominion forces. Fighting an endless wave of infested terran wasn't exactly what he was trained for. "They are endless."

"They're also stupid. If you ask me they're dumber than I imagined."

The Raider captain joined the talk as well. He was one of the original Raiders from Mar Sara, and unlike the satisfaction of his men, he was confused. He fought both with and against the zerg before, and there was no reason for them to mindlessly walk into a trap. Still, it wasn't his job as a captain to do the tactics. That was the job of the Raider High Command, which consisted of around three people.

Suddenly, a frightened voice came in the radio.

"Look!"

The female marine popped her head over the bunker and coughed in surprise.

While the Raiders were talking, the infested kept on jumping into the pit. The pit wasn't designed as an actual damage dealer. It was meant to delay the infested, which was why the colonists didn't make it into a twenty meter deep trench that could pack an army of infested. Instead, it was merely a several meter tall pit.

As the infested kept on pouring in, the pit was literally being filled up. Pikes were crushed. The infested below were being used as stepping stones of their followers, who were then stepped on by even fresher infested.

Eventually, one of the infested found itself standing on a mountain of bodies that was as tall as the pit. Half its body sank into the stomach of an infested terran underneath its feet. A normal terran soldier would be emptying his stomach, but this infested merely stepped over its brothers, still alive, and charged toward the third and final line of defense.

The sea of infested, slightly smaller than it was before, followed. Some infested fell into the mountain and became a part of it, but they merely made the mountain stronger and taller.

Whatever losses the infested took, whether it was from the pit or from the bullets, they could shrug it off with their numbers.

 _"Open fire!"_

* * *

The terran strike team passed the last corner and found itself inside a large cave. Unlike the tunnels, this cave was large enough for large amount of units to fight.

That was partially why the broodmother built this cave.

The reaper captain didn't need specific experience against the zerg to know this was a bad thing for them. In a narrow hallway the elite terran units could mow down the infested one by one, but in this open battlefield, they could be surrounded and overrun. There was no way ninety guns could cover every side and push back thousands of infested.

A sharp screech dragged the captain's attention to a large figure at the end of the cave. Its large form matched the picture of zerg broodmothers he saw before the mission. He knew she was his target, but he also knew this was not going to be an easy fight.

Just like he imagined, almost immediately following the screech, the horrifying sound of something digging through dirt made his face twitch.

Across the seemingly empty cave, nearly a thousand zerg figures emerged.

The infested colonists that normally made up most of the infested army were almost nowhere to be seen. It wasn't because the broodmother didn't have any available. It was because something as weak as infected colonists was a waste to space.

Infested marine made up the primary cannon fodders here. Their bodies were infested and their minds were corrupted, but their white CMC armor and C-14 gauss rifles still remained. Fearless and completely obedient, they were to a degree, even stronger than normal marines. The millions of colonists only included a couple thousand militias, and around half of them were infested and were positioned here.

But what really made the reaper captain cringe was the presence of dozens of two meter tall beasts. They had four slant legs that made their bodies taller than most infested units. Their backs were covered in purple bubbles. Like all zerg units, their mouths was twisted and full of sharp teeth, but the reaper captain was horrified to see some resemblance of a human face from the infested unit.

He suddenly remembered this monster used to be a human being, just like him. He gripped onto his pistols tightly, silently making up his mind that if this mission failed and he was trapped with no way of escaping, he would rather kill himself then be turned into something like that.

Back when fighting terran pirates or Dominion security forces, the worst thing that could happen was death. But against the zerg, infestation was the price of defeat.

Beside the broodmother were two specialized zerg units. They were fatter than normal zerg units, and they didn't have any claws or sharp teeths. In the zerg swarm, this only meant one thing: They didn't need claws or teeths to contribute to the cause of the swarm.

If Jean was here, she would've recognized them as infestors.

The reaper captain was paralyzed by fear, but the Warden marines weren't. They immediately scattered out in a formation that allowed a clear line of sight for every unit and also made sure every unit was far away from its comrades to maximize their chance of survival.

A series of positioning that would take a normal terran army half an hour was completed in just seconds. Almost as soon as it entered the cave, the AI of the Warden captain observed the surrounding, analyzed the situation, and devised the best plan based on its tactical purpose and the amount of resources present.

As the Warden units were ready, the Warden captain turned to the reaper captain.

"Attack. Terminate all zerg organisms."

It was both a notification to the reaper captain and an order to fellow Warden units. As the words were spoken, the Warden units pulled their triggers.

 _"Dadadada…"_

The calculated shots of Warden marines pierced through the cave and created a clear echo. Immediately, at least two dozen infested collapsed, either dead or too wounded to fight. Warden units barely missed.

"Go go go!" The reaper captain yelled as well, knowing if he was to see the lovely sight of Deadman's Port again he would need to act quickly. This was no time for hesitation. Raising his gauss pistols, he pulled the triggers like crazy.

His men followed him as a wave of gauss pistol shots, significantly different from gauss rifles in terms of sound, joined the field.

"Go on my children, rip them apart!" The broodmother ordered psionically. She didn't say the exact words, but the meaning was similar.

The infested marines fired at the terran strike team while moving. Their armors and weapons were outdated as they used to be colonist militias and they didn't have anything like combat shields or stimpacks, but they did have the numbers. A couple dozen infested were taken down by the initial wave of blast, but the openings their absence created was quickly covered by new infested from the back.

Seeing the infested marines fire, the Warden units took the correct course of action. All forty Warden marines carried combat shields, and they immediately put the forty shields together, creating a shield wall. Enemy gauss bullets were blocked, but the Warden marines could still poke their guns out of the tiny openings between the shields and retaliate.

Even if a few bullets found their way through the openings, the mechanical nature of the Warden units meant that unless their power core or central CPU was destroyed, they could still remain functional.

Beside the Warden marines, the reapers were giving it everything they've got. Pistols were fired so fast the gunshots from a single weapon were indistinguishable.

"Blow them up!"

The reaper captain eyed the amount of enemies present and gave down an order.

Half the reapers returned their pistols back to their holsters and reached inside their storage bags and grabbed onto several KD8 charges. They threw the explosives all across the infested flank.

Some of the reapers even risked their lives to get the charges into the center of the infested marines. The severeness of the situation only sparked their fearless nature. They were veterans and they knew they needed to do something if they were to walk out of this cave alive.

 _"Boom!"_

Immediately, the infested started flying. Quite literally. KD8 charges weren't exactly damage inflicting, but they were able to toss the light armored infested marines over their feet. When the infested marines returned to their shooting positions, they found themselves losing at least ten seconds of firing time. Some of them were also rewarded with a shot to the head or to the chest.

Plus, one charge couldn't kill an infested marine, at least not directly, but there were fifty reapers, and each carried multiple charges.

On the other hand, the larger infested units, aberrations, shrugged off the light explosives. They were too heavy to be thrown over by KD8 charges, and the damage of the charges themselves merely grazed their carapace.

"Look out!"

One of the reapers found himself slightly out of position. He also found an aberration after him. Pointing his pistol at the aberration, he desperately pulled the trigger, but the light weapon didn't even slow the monster down. Immediately he tried to retreat, but he was too late.

The aberration swiped its claws, and the reaper was severed in two. Blood and intestines covered the ground as the man screamed, still conscious.

The reaper captain put a bullet into the suffering comrade and ended his misery. "We need anti-armor!" He turned to the Warden captain and yelled. "Those monsters will wipe us out!"

The Warden captain calculated as it dropped two infested terran.

"You have anti-armor means." It said coldly, pointing at the reaper's utility belt.

The reaper looked down and found himself staring at his D-8 demolition charge.

"D-8? It's designed for anti-building…" He caught himself before the Warden marine could reply. He realized he was being an idiot again. Usually against terran D-8 charges, thrown in close quarters, weren't ideal since the reapers were facing marines and siege tanks. Yet against the zerg the aberrations were literally offering themselves up to them.

Wasting no time, the reaper captain took out one of the D-8 charges. His jetpack powered him forward toward one of the aberrations. The beast leaned forward, ready to slash down on the puny human being that dared to challenge it, but there was a reason the reaper captain was, well, a captain.

Just before the reaper smashed into the claws of the aberration, the man suddenly raised his hand, and a blue explosive flew out of his grip and at the aberration.

As soon as the charge was out, the reaper captain turned his body around and turned his jetpack to maximum power.

The explosion from behind didn't make the reaper captain turn. Instead, he returned to the relative safety of the center of the terran strike team before looking at the result of his work.

The aberration was down. The explosive capable of punching a hole through meters of neosteel had an easy time against the heavy carapace of the assault beast.

Half its stomach and both his legs were gone. One of its arms laid on the ground in a pool of purple zerg goo. The bubbles on the back of the aberration popped like balloons. The beast was half gone.

A smile found its way onto the reaper captain's face, but that smile immediately disappeared when the man saw a reaper beside him suddenly riddled with bullets.

The battle was far from won.


	22. Chapter 22

The broodmother hissed as she saw another aberration bite the dust at the hands of three D-8 explosives.

The battle didn't go as she expected. She was taken back by how easily the terran strike team dealt with the burrowed sentires, but she told herself no amount of skill could help these terran soldiers withstand an army ten times their number.

Their only fate was to be infested, as was the fate of all terran.

Yet five minutes into the battle, the broodmother suddenly realized one fourth of her units were on the ground, dead or dying. They traded with fifteen reapers and ten marines.

Usually she would gladly make that trade. No matter what the trading ratio was, it was always terran that died. Even if a thousand infested were wiped out and only one terran marine perished, she would still gladly sit upon her throne and enjoy the show.

There was nothing better than watching her enemies slaughter each other.

But now, every dead infested meant one less unit protecting her. She was capable of combat, but looking at the half a dozen dead aberrations she knew her prowess wouldn't save her. Her carapace wasn't half as strong as aberrations.

She turned to the two infestors beside her.

"Infest their leader."

The broodmother wasn't sleeping when her units fought. She took her time to observe the terran strike team, and she realized that even though one of the reapers was a skilled fighter, it was the terran marine with a purple T helmet that was giving the orders.

If she could control him, the battle was pretty much won.

One of the infestors gave out an obedient psionic signal, and a slant tentacle extended out of its back. It discreetly took aim at the Warden captain, carefully adjusted its position, and fired a tiny dart at the "man".

With incrdible speed, the dart penetrated the Warden captain's armor on the shoulder.

The broodmother growled in satisfaction and relaxed her tensed body. The dart was actually a tiny zerg parasite. As soon as it was sent into its victim's body, it could chew its way to the brain of the unfortunate person and control it, effectively turning the victim into an agent of the swarm. This was different from infestation as it didn't transform the body of the victim, but it was much more discreet. Even protoss could fall victim to this trick.

With the captain under her command, she could indirectly order the terran units to do something stupid. Ordering the marines and the reapers to walk over an army of burrowed terran was not a bad idea. Of course, she could always order the captain to shoot his men and watch the strike team perish in chaos and confusion.

These men threatened her life, and she would make them pay. Death was not the end, and even if these terran were killed, she would still infest them.

She frowned when the terran strike team kept on firing. The Warden captain glanced at her direction before returning to fire on the infested.

The AI detected the attack, but the dart, despite having penetrated its armor, didn't do any real damage. The AI calculated the factors and favored taking care of the armed infested rather than dealing with the source of this useless attack.

"Control him!" The broodmother turned to the infestor that sent out the parasite.

The infestor returned a confused signal.

"What do you mean he is non-biological?" The broodmother checked the genetic information she received when she was born and realized marines were indeed biological. There should be a human inside that armor, a human that she could control.

The Warden captain took down another infested marine, ending whatever hope the broodmother had.

"Doesn't matter." The arrogance of the broodmother made her ignore the odd nature of these marines. "Fungal them."

The two infestors opened their mouths, and two large piles of green substance were fired at the Warden formation.

They were immediately spotted by the sensor.

"Evasive action." The Warden captain passed down the order both within the Warden network for other Warden units and with words for the reapers.

The Warden marines reacted quickly. Those that could moved away did exactly that. Those that were trapped lifted their shields to block the effect of the fungal growth.

The fungal hissed as it hit the combat shields, weakening the layers of metal but not touching the marines themselves.

The reapers weren't as lucky. Words were less efficient than network transmissions. The reaper captain, now fully trusting the Warden captain, turned and moved ten meters back without even looking at where the danger came from.

Not every reaper did the same.

At least ten reapers were caught in the range of the fungal growth. When they heard the warning, they looked around to see where the danger came from. This took away their last chance of survival.

The corrosive substance hit their armors. Without combat shields to provide cover, the reapers had no choice but to face the attack with their armors, which meant every single reaper hit were stuck to the ground. Furthermore, the sound of hissing made them realize their armors were melting.

Adding to the problem, an aberration launched itself at the group of trapped reapers. Usually these men could use their jetpacks to stay away and use their D8 charges to blow the hell out of the aberration, but now they could only stay there and wait for death to come.

"You son of a…" One of the reapers yelled desperately before the aberration swung its claw over his head, crushing it like a watermelon.

The other reapers tried everything they could, but their pistols and explosives were stuck as well. They were completely defenseless.

The reaper captain bit his lips so tight he tasted blood. The screams of those reapers made he want to kill something. These were his men. His men! He trusted them with his life, and these men did in return. They followed him into the gates of hell, and now they were massacred and there was nothing he could do.

Over one tenth of the enemies were down, but the broodmother wasn't glad. The two infestors used up most of their energies with that hit as they hoped to deal the maximum amount of damage with the element of surprise. She expected half the enemies to be trapped. Ten reapers weren't enough to justify the cost.

But she was almost out of cards. The infestors were almost useless. She couldn't join battle herself because that would defeat the whole point of this defense. Two D8 charges could kill her. All she could do was order the reinforcements to move faster.

But when the broodmother contacted the infested, she received reports about encountering a terran battlecruiser. It was gunning down every infested that approached the entrance of the cave with anti ground batteries. The gauss rifles of infested marines were literally for show against the capital ship. Giving up any hope of attacking, the infested charged for the entrance at full speed, which wasn't very fast, and took heavy losses.

Over a thousand infested have made a move at the cave. Only eighty got to where they were going. The rest were turned to ashes.

If the broodmother was a human she would be cursing. She dug out this cave when she first received report about the presence of a terran battlecruiser. It was in a hurry. She didn't have the time to construct backup escape paths. The only way in or out was the main entrance. Otherwise why was she still here?

Suddenly, she felt like a trapped beast, waiting to be slaughtered by the skilled hunter.

And the hunter was closing in with every infested that fell.

In the end, there wasn't any miracle. All the infested were dead. The two infestors were ravaged by bullets, and the broodmother was cornered by a lot of angry men.

Over thirty reapers and nearly twenty Warden marines fell, but their sacrifice was worth it.

"The wrath of the Queen of Blades will burn through your flesh and melt your very being!" Cornered with no chance of escaping, the bloodthirsty nature of the broodmother took over. She growled and fired a spine at the Warden captain and was blocked by its combat shield.

"Target verified." The Warden captain was fazed by neither the threat nor the spine. "Commencing destruction."

Twenty rifles blasted the large beast to pieces of flesh and bone.

The Warden captain opened up a connection with Jean.

"Lieutenant, target terminated. Waiting for further instructions now."

In the bridge, Jean grinned and turned to Horner and gave him a steady nod.

"The broodmother is dead."

Horner smiled as well. He looked at the infested on the ground and realized the swarm of infested that was charging fearlessly through the laser batteries of the battlecruiser and into the tunnel stopped moving. Some of them suddenly turned and fled while the majority of the infested turned on each other.

Without the command of the broodmother, the basic nature of the zerg, the need to hunt and devour, took over, prompting them to make a move on each other.

Horner turned to the crew members.

"Clear a landing area and send some transports. It's time to welcome our heroes home."

* * *

"Where's reinforcement!" The marine that previously commented on the infested being idiots no longer had that belief.

The Raiders threw everything they had against the infested. Gauss bullets, autocannon rounds, and marauder grenades smashed into the flank of the infested. The Raiders didn't even need to spend much time taking aim. All they needed was point their weapons at the general direction of the infested and pull the trigger, and some kills were guaranteed.

The infested kept moving. The first line fell and was immediately replaced by the second. The second collapsed a second later, and the third came up.

The Raiders were backed into the corner. If they lost this line, they would be retreating back into the settlement itself. Without the narrow chokepoint of the entrances, the Raiders would be hopeless.

Suddenly, one of the marines looked up and saw five figures approaching in the air. It took him a second to realize what they were.

Five vikings dove down on the sea of infested. Infested marines saw the vikings as well and opened fire, but their outdated gauss rifles had no way of damaging the hardened armor of the vikings. Ten torpedoes exited the fighters and slammed into the infested mountain.

Following a series of explosions, ten empty holes were opened up in the tightly packed flesh. Every infested in range was reduced to a pile of foul flesh.

The anti-armor fighters worked oddly well against the infantry.

The Raider marines cheered, but the viking pilots didn't.

"We're out of torpedoes, sir." One of them spoke to her captain through the comm.

The man groaned behind his helmet. He and his squad had been in the air for quite a while. Circling between the entrances, they were the only thing keeping the line from falling, but now that they were out of missiles, they could no longer take down infested like nothing.

Yet that didn't mean they were defenseless.

"Enter assault mode." He looked at the Raider marines and marauders on the ground. If they retreated, those men down there would no doubt die, along with most of the colonists in the camp.

The five vikings went behind the Raider formation and started clicking and turning. Two mechanical legs appeared below the fighter and hit the ground, supporting the heavy weight of the fighter. A pair of Gatling guns were on the side, and the viking pilots didn't hesitate to use them.

Unfortunately, the lack of ammunition of the vikings meant the last thing keeping the Raiders alive was gone. The five vikings dropped down and provided fire support in entrance Alpha, but the other three entrances were left vulnerable.

"We're being overrun! They're everywhere! Where's fire support?" One of the Raider captains cried through the comm. Raynor opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something, perhaps to issue an order, but the next second a scream came in the comm.

"Ahhh!"

"Damn it!" Raynor closed the front of his helmet and turned to the ten war pigs and twenty or so colonist militias that were left with him. They were the last of his reserves.

"Prepare to move out."

"Sir!"

Before he could say anything else, he heard a cheerful voice from the radio. The rebel commander frowned and looked at the adjutant.

"The zerg units are attacking each other." For maybe the first time, the adjutant gave him some good news.

Before Raynor's mind understood what was happening, a large figure appeared in the sky. Its laser batteries landed on the infested and burned away their very being.

"The cavalry has arrived. Anyone still alive down there?"

The Hyperion came here as soon as they picked up what was left of the strike team.

Raynor grinned.

He knew he made the right decision.


	23. Chapter 23

The Hyperion was resting above an inhabited planet.

It had been two days since the battle of Meinhoff. The survivors of the colonists were sent to a planet called New Haven. According to Dr. Hanson, the planet _should_ be safe. It was next to protoss airspace, but to a degree the protoss were even better than the Dominion and the Kel-Morian.

At least the protoss wouldn't turn and flee from the zerg.

After departing from the colonists, the Raiders simply returned to somewhere safe to rest and recover.

Despite all the advantages they had, the Raiders still took heavy losses on Meinhoff.

The Agrian militias were the least experienced of the Raider factions. For most of these men and women, this was their first battle. Out of the fifty militias that decided to join the Raiders, over thirty gave their lives for the refugees. If the much more experienced mercenaries weren't present, that lost would be even greater.

Even the Mar Saran elites lost over 20 men. Following Raynor since the very beginning of everything, they were no doubt the best of the best. With sufficient weapons and equipment, they could even take on the Sons of Korhal, the best marines of the Terran Dominion. Unfortunately, experienced didn't mean being able to take a shot in the head and live. When the infested overran the defenses and ripped the CMC armors apart, these elite troopers died just like every other refugee and colonist on the planet.

The mercenaries were in a similar situation as the Mar Sarans. 36 war pigs, 12 hammer securities, and one goliath were lost in all four entrances. During the assault on the broodmother, 31 reapers and 19 Warden marines were killed. The reapers Raynor hired from Mira Han were almost wiped out.

The hundred or so dead traded with thousands of infested. The 1:20 or so trade ratio would be a miracle for the Raiders in most cases, but against the infested, this was not enough. All the zerg spent was some energy to design and spread the infestation.

The only comfort was that the Raiders killed the broodmother and two infestors and sent the millions of infested into a fight till death. Both broodmothers and infestors were expensive and precious. They were insignificant in the swarm, but their loss still stung.

Even so, Jean considered what happened to be an inefficient trade. The Raiders lost nearly one fourth of their precious combatants. The militias were expendable, but the elite Raiders and mercenaries were almost irreplaceable.

And what did they get in return? The refugees left after leaving a few meaningless thanks. The Raiders didn't get any weapon or armor. They didn't get any resources or credits. Hell they didn't even get any fresh recruits. The hundred or so men were lost with nothing in return.

If it was Jean making the calls she would never make this trade, but apparently, Raynor thought the life of thousands of refugees that could never help his cause was much more valuable than that of a hundred or so men under his command.

Jean had no choice but to obey, but she couldn't help but start thinking.

In the original history, Raynor was able to punch his way through everyone he faced, whether they were the Dominion, the Tal'darim, the Daelaam, or the Swarm. Any one of them had ten times the army and the fleet of the Raiders, but somehow Raynor came out victorious.

Jean didn't think that would happen this time. If she wanted to complete her mission, she would need to act wisely and carefully, and she was starting to think Raynor could not complete that goal.

He was too soft. That was a weakness, and Jean couldn't afford the price of his weakness.

Of course, that didn't mean Jean would leave the Raiders. It only meant she would give herself more options.

Walking into the cantine of the ship, Jean glanced around. The cantine was occupied. In fact, it has always been occupied since the war pigs were hired. Jean came to the cantine a few times before, and she keenly realized there were less customers here. Some of the heaviest drinkers never lived to touch alcohol again.

That didn't mean the cantine was any quieter. If anything, the few drinkers were much louder. The alcohol, while numbing their mind, channeled their inner anger and fear to the outside world. In battle these men kept their emotions sealed, but in the safety of the cantine they were able to unleash it.

Jean walked to the bartender.

"Just some water please." She was never a fan of alcohol. As far as she could see, alcohol was a way for people to process their emotions, which meant she had no need of that.

The bartender, Cooper, nodded, silently scanning Jean from top to bottom. The girl wasn't in her normal lieutenant uniform. Instead, she wore a much more casual shirt that revealed her curves. She didn't have any makeup on, but she didn't need makeup to look pretty. Something about her, maybe it was how cold she felt, made her so attractive.

Despite having both men and women, most of the Raiders were men. Women, especially beautiful women, were rare.

But Jean wasn't here to get a cup of water or enjoy the gaze of some hot-headed men. Instead, she set her eyes on a lone figure.

Cooper passed Jean a cup of water, and the girl nodded and walked to one of the occupied tables.

"Captain Beckett." She said quietly as she sat down. "I'm lieutenant Jean Turner."

The man in front of her was obviously drunk. His eyes were red, as if he hasn't slept for days.

The man was the reaper captain that participated in the assault on the broodmother.

After returning to the Hyperion, the captain was hailed as a hero. Rarely would someone take down an army of zerg and live to tell the tale. Raynor paid he and his men a large number of credits in addition to the usual salary. Even Mira Han herself sent a word of compliment to captain Beckett.

Yet the captain was far from satisfied. The image of an endless wave of infested terran, in their twisted form, swarming upon him and his men haunted his dreams. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could still see the severed bodies and hear the screams of the men he lost on Meinhoff.

He wasn't a fresh recruit who never seen a dead body ever before. Usually an experienced veteran like him would get used to losing men in battle, but he was still a human being. No amount of training or experience could change that. He could seal off his pain with his willpower in the midst of the battle, but just like the war pigs, he could no longer conceal that pain in a safe environment.

"I don't give a damn." The man finally replied after taking another drink, not even looking up.

Some men answered their anger and fear by being cruel. Torturing and executing innocent people was just one of the standard methods to let off some steam. Stimpacks and other type of drugs, along with alcohol, was also a common theme.

Others, like the reaper captain, would falter.

Beckett was already considering sending Mira Han a request to retire. With the credits he got after the battle, he could afford to settle down and live a relatively comfortable life. Finding a safe place in the sector in this chaotic time might be a challenge, but the reaper has had enough.

If he remained with the Raiders, he couldn't say for sure that he could live long enough to enjoy the credits.

"Just hear my offer first." Jean crossed her legs and sipped the water she had, ignoring the few hungry eyes from a few drunk war pigs.

Beckett was quiet. He didn't agree to listen to what Jean had to say, but he didn't stop her either.

"I want you and your squad to be my guard."

Every major player in this sector had a group of elite units that were absolutely loyal to him or her. It was not because that commander wanted to stage a mutiny or something. It was to both protect the commander themselves and give the commanders a last squad of reserves.

In the Raiders, Raynor had his own Mara Sara buddies. Horner had a group of elite crew members he brought over to the Raiders when he left the Sons of Korhal and joined the Raiders with the Hyperion. Otherwise there was no way a single captain could take a ship this large. Even Swann had a set of automated turrets and warbots he had direct command over.

Every commander, whether it was Raynor or Ma'lash or Artanis, supported this tradition. After all, betrayals were rare, and generally these personal guards did more good than harm.

Jean, unfortunately, didn't have that squad of guards. She had direct command over the Warden units, but good soldiers didn't mean good guards.

Guards needed more than combat capabilities to do their jobs. Most of the time, guards were used as messengers and patrols and even military police. Sometimes they needed to deal with assassins or traitors. This required ability to deal with an almost infinite amount of possibilities. Human beings could actively assess the situation and do what they think was right.

Warden AIs, on the other hand, needed programming to function correctly, but there was no way Jean could consider every single possibility possible and develop a set of instructions for every one of them. She could tell the AI how to deal with a zergling as efficiently as possible. She couldn't tell it how to identify someone who was doing something suspicious.

In order to do that, Jean needed an AI that could think by itself. Purifier AIs could do that, but Jean simply didn't have the technology to do so. She learned about coding with ease, but it was difficult to learn something when she had neither a teacher nor a textbook.

The reaper captain rose his eyebrows, slightly intrigued. Being a guard was much better than being a foot soldier. Foot soldiers were sent to the front line, and if they were unfortunate enough they might just go out in a round of siege tank fire. Decades of training and experience, gone.

Beckett knew who Jean was. She was one of the most trusted advisors of Raynor himself and one of the most influential people in Raynor's Raiders. If he could be her guard...he and his men would be much safer. Patrolling and dealing with potential lone assassins was much safer than charging into the battlefield.

Of course, there was always the possibility that the battle turned to a direction so bad that even as a guard he would need to get into fighting, but things like that were rare, and being a mercenary meant having to take some risk. If he was afraid of a risk this small, then he might as well retire.

"What will my status be?" Beckett asked.

"You and your men will still be a mercenary hired by Raynor's Raiders. Your salary and treatment will be the same, but you will stay with me and follow my orders."

Beckett leaned forward.

"You know who I work for."

He was a reaper hired from Mira's Marauders, which meant his loyalty laid in the female mercenary. Guards should be absolutely loyal to their leader. He didn't think Jean would feel comfortable with having a group of men who would snap her neck with a single order in charge of her safety.

"Perhaps, but Mira Han is far away."

Beckett finally smiled. "As you wish, sir."

Jean leaned back and emptied the cup.


	24. Chapter 24

Bridge. The Hyperion.

Jim Raynor sat in his seat. He seemed slightly down. The young captain stood beside him.

"Do you think I made a mistake?" The rebel commander tapped his cheek and whispered those words.

The decision he made on Meinhoff to save the colonists, no matter the cost, made the man a hero in the eyes of the colonists. Unfortunately, the Raiders didn't share the same belief.

A few of them were willing to give their lives for the innocent, but the mercenaries didn't share the idea. In fact, even a part of the original Raiders had a few words to say about their leader.

Things got even worse when rumors started to spread. Some people thought Raynor saved the colonists because he was in love with Dr. Hanson. He was basically trading the lives of his men for a girl.

Now that was some serious accusation.

If it was a complete and utter lie, Raynor could just put this rumor down with force. A few weeks of detention for the spreaders of the rumors would be enough. Unfortunately, deep down, Raynor knew this rumor wasn't exactly wrong.

Perhaps he didn't save the colonists _entirely_ because of Dr. Hanson, but there was no denying that he liked that woman.

"I think you did the right thing. If you left the refugees to die, you would be no different from the Dominion and the Kel-Morian. You would've disappointed us all."

Horner was aware of the rumor as well, but he was also aware that whatever the reason was behind Raynor's action, it didn't change the fact that he did the right thing, and that was enough for him.

Raynor nodded, feeling slightly better.

Suddenly, the door of the bridge opened, and a certain female doctor walked in.

"Jim…"

Raynor almost fell off his seat.

Jean walked into the bridge. Her new guard captain waited outside.

Raynor, Horner, and Hanson were in the bridge in addition to the usual crew members and guards.

"Sir." She saluted at Raynor despite her private thoughts and looked at Hanson, waiting for her to speak.

"My people have established a new colony on Haven. I have received transmission from them a few days ago, but I have lost contact since then. We need to get down there and see what the situation is." Hanson explained quickly.

Jean's mind started turning as she went through the memory she received, searching for relevant information.

This time it was the Daelaam protoss that cut off the communication between the settlement and Dr. Hanson. Turned out some of the refugees the Raiders rescued were secretly infested or carried the zerg virus. Terran technology failed to detect them, but protoss observers managed to catch on to the zerg scent.

The protoss saw the zerg as their greatest enemy. After receiving the report, Executor Selendis of the Golden Armada brought her fleet to purify the colonies.

Even with the technology of the Daelaam protoss, they couldn't pick out every single fragment of zerg infestation, so the safest thing to do was burn everyone that might be infested, and that was what Selendis did. Her fleet moved without mercy and destroyed every terran on the planet, infested or not.

In the original world, Raynor, the saint he was, intervened. He had two choices. In the first choice, he sided with the protoss and destroyed the infested colonies. As a result, after seeing her people massacred, Dr. Hanson infested herself. Raynor had to put a bullet in her head.

If this was the case here, Jean would be fine. Neither Hanson nor her people could contribute to her cause.

But if Raynor made the other decision, then there would be a problem. In the other possibility, Raynor, for some reason, believed Dr. Hanson could develop a cure for the infestation. For no real reason, he put his forces between the Daelaam and the colonists.

Strangely, the Raiders, with a couple of vikings, were able to defeat an entire fleet of Daelaam protoss. In the end, the protoss backed off and Dr. Hanson miraculously saved her people. Happy ending.

That was the story, but in reality, there was no way a single Behemoth battlecruiser and five vikings could take down an entire fleet of Golden Armada, which included a mothership and a couple carriers.

Just the mothership could wipe the Raiders out. In fact, if she wanted to, Selendis could put the mothership in front of the Raiders and order it to hold its position and allow the Raiders to attack, and Jean suspected the Raiders couldn't even break through the shield of the protoss capital ship.

If Raynor made this decision again, then the Raiders might fall this day.

Dr. Hanson was continuing.

"I'm worried that something has gone extremely wrong."

Raynor turned to the crew members.

"Plot a course to Haven."

Jean silently grabbed onto the hologram projector in the middle of the bridge to keep herself from falling as the ship entered warp space. Within a few minutes, the Hyperion appeared in the space above the planet of Haven.

"Sir, there's a protoss fleet holding in orbit. They're disrupting all communication from the surface and it looks like they're powering up their main weapons." Horner observed as he stared at a few computer panels.

"Jim, you have to stop this." Dr. Hanson looked to the man that helped she and her people twice already. Her eyes shined hope.

"Matt, open a channel to the protoss. Let's see how diplomatic they're feeling." Raynor ordered.

A few seconds later the computer screen in front of Raynor blinked. The image of Haven was replaced by the image of a protoss templar.

"En Taro Tassadar, James Raynor. I am Executor Selendis. Your bravery and service to Aiur are known to us." It was a female templar speaking.

Raynor has had quite a history with the protoss. Back in the Brood War, he fought with Zeratul and Fenix against the swarm to bring the Khala survivors still trapped on Aiur to safety. He earned their respect in the process.

"En Taro Tassadar, Selendis. Listen, with all due respect, your fleet needs to pull back. The people on Haven are no threat to you."

"Our observers detected zerg hive spores infesting the colonists. They must be purified. If you wish to undertake this mission in this stand, we will permit it."

"Jim, some of my people are infested, but you can't let the protoss just destroy them all. If you can keep the protoss at bay, I know I can find a cure to the infestation."

"The only cure to zerg infestation is purification by fire. You know this to be true, James Raynor." Selendis interrupted. As much as she respected Raynor's bravery, she didn't think the terran could accomplish something even the protoss couldn't do. Of course, part of it was because the protoss weren't looking into a cure for zerg infestation because protoss couldn't be infested.

"I can cure them, Jim. Believe me."

Jean saw the look in Raynor's eyes and knew this was going toward a direction she didn't like.

"If you choose to resist us, we will meet in glorious combat. The choice is yours, James Raynor. We await your answer."

"I'll need a moment to think about this." Raynor closed off the transmission to Selendis and turned to Horner, Jean, and Hanson.

"We can't let the protoss kill everyone." He announced.

"With all due respect sir, we are no match for the protoss." She pointed at a scanner. "Scanners indicate one mothership and five carriers. We can't win this fight with the Hyperion and a handful vikings."

Hanson glared at Jean with what could be described as hatred, but the girl ignored her.

"Jean's right." Horner added more straw to the fire. "The Hyperion is tough, but so are protoss ships. I think we can deal with the carriers, but tactical analysis suggests that our weapons are ineffective against the mothership."

"What about the Yamato Cannon?" Dr. Hanson had no choice but to speak up. She wasn't a military officer, but she had no choice.

Horner looked at the doctor, apologizing. "The shield of the mothership is powered by four nexi on the surface of Haven. As long as they stand, we will never be able to exhaust the shields. We would need an entire fleet to have any chance to punch through the shield by force."

"Then we can send a strike team to the planet…"

Jean pulled up another image of a nexus the Hyperion scanned. In the picture, a bright light beam extended off the crystal at the tip of the nexus and touched the plasma shield of the mothership. Around the mothership were hundreds of zealots, dragoons, stalkers, and sentries. A high templar floated in the middle of the defenses. For every nexus, half a dozen warp prisms entered warp mode and provided force fields for photon cannons. Phoenixes patrolled the area in groups of five, ready to gun down any transport or fighter.

Dr. Hanson went silent. She didn't need experience with combat to know this was too much for the Raiders. The Raiders could throw everything they have against one of the nexi and still be defeated. Perhaps the Hyperion could help them break through, but if that happened the Daelaam fleet would descend as well.

The Raiders didn't stand a chance.

"Jim…" Out of words, the doctor turned to her hero, waiting for him to pull a rabbit out of his hat. "I don't need you to defeat the protoss. All you have to do is delay them for a while, and I will find a cure. I promise..."

"With all due respect, doctor, the best scientists of both the Terran Dominion and the Umojan Protectorate have been looking into a cure for the zerg infestation, but none of them were successful. What makes you think you can find a solution in a few days?" Jean added salt to the wound.

"You!" Hanson finally snapped. She turned to Jean with dagger glares. "What are you thinking? Those are innocent people down there! My people! They have done nothing wrong! They don't deserve to die!"

The woman has had enough. She only wanted to find somewhere safe for her people in this chaotic world. Is this too much to ask for? She didn't know why almost everyone she met wanted she and her people dead. The Zerg. The infestors. The Daelaam protoss. Now even an officer in the Raiders was opposing her.

Jean didn't know the pain of the woman, but even if she did she wouldn't care. Hanson couldn't help her with her mission, which meant she didn't need to care what she was thinking.

Seeing the cold look on Jean, Hanson turned back to Raynor. She didn't say anything. She has said everything that could be said.

The choice was Raynor's.

"We will not let those people die, not when we have a chance of saving them."

The man finally made the decision. He knew this wasn't the wisest decision. Most likely, this would threaten his authority among the Raiders, assuming there would be any Raiders left after this battle.

But just like Horner said, he was standing for his cause, and he would be no different from Mengsk if he could stand and watch while thousands of innocent civilians perish. Not when he had a chance of saving them.

"I will lead a squad of Raiders and take out the nexi."

For a moment, the man looked exhausted. It was as it took him all his strength to say those words.

"That's crazy!" Jean put up the perfect act. The mask of a young lieutenant who cared about the lives of the common Raiders covered her foul presence. "You're giving away Raider lives! For what? A girl?"

There was a reason why Jean was being such a bitch.

She wanted to open up an opportunity for her to potentially take over the Raiders, but in order to do that she needed influence. Right now she was nothing more than an officer. She had command over the Raider soldiers but only because these men were following Raynor and she had a higher rank than they did. If they had to choose be her and Raynor, it would be an easy choice.

She needed to increase her influence and decrease that of Raynor's, and what was a better way to do it than arguing for the good of the common soldiers while the real commander went over his head?

There was no doubt what she said in here would be spread to all over the ship. Even if the guards and the crew members didn't do it, she herself would.

Just like how she spread the rumor.

This amount of influence might not be enough to make these men loyal to her, but it would stack up over time.

Of course, Raynor wouldn't be too satisfied by Jean's response, but the man wouldn't develop a grudge on her just because she stood for what she believed in.

Just like she expected, Raynor was taken back but not angered.

"That's an order." He decided.

"Thanks Jim." Hanson smiled, peaking at Jean but was slightly saddened to see she wasn't showing any emotion.

Horner cautiously glanced from Raynor to Jean and then back to Raynor again. He knew how bad dissent was in the midst of battle. Conflict between the commander and one of his most trusted advisors could be disastrous.

But Jean wasn't frustrated or angered or anything. Conflict with the protoss was already a fact. Now all she could do was minimize the losses.

"In that case, might I suggest an alternate method?"


	25. Chapter 25

The Raiders turned on the transmission with the Daelaam fleet once again.

"What is your decision?" Executor Selendis asked with her standard tone. On one hand she didn't want to fight the terran that fought alongside some of the most respected protoss heroes in her time. On the other hand she wouldn't falter if Raynor was to go against her.

"I cannot let you kill those people down there."

"In that case, we shall engage in glorious combat." Selendis acknowledged without any sort of disappointment, but just before she turned off the transmission, the words of a certain woman stopped her.

"Executor," Jean said, stepping up so she replaced Raynor as the center of the video. "Might I suggest something."

Selenis nodded. She had her own pride and wouldn't spend the time to listen to some random terran woman, but this woman was with Raynor, and just that gave her the right to speak.

"Our true enemy is the swarm. It will be foolish to waste precious warriors fighting each other. If we do so, the only one benefiting will be the Queen of Blades."

Selendis realized what Jean was saying. The Daelaam outgunned and outnumbered the Raiders. If the Raiders fight, they would lose. Jean needed to keep this fight from happening.

By using their common enemy as an excuse, Jean proposed a peaceful ending that would allow both sides to leave with both their dignity and their lives.

It was clever, but Selendis didn't want this to end peacefully. Whether for her own preference or for the common good of the sector, she needed to take out those infested terran. However, she was ready to hear the girl out.

"What do you propose?"

"A duel." Jean said confidently. "50 of our warriors against 50 of yours."

"If we win, then we have proven we have the ability to deal with the infestation, and you leave this matter to us. If you win, you can have the colonists."

Selendis thought about it. The girl had a point. This was much wiser than an all out war between the Raiders and the Daelaam. Just as this girl said, if the Raiders could defeat the Daelaam, which she highly doubted, then they surely had enough power to deal with the infested.

"Deal."

As she agreed, Selendis suddenly realized the Raiders were friend with the Daelaam. Painting the ground red with their blood wasn't exactly the best way to treat a friend.

"I will order my warriors to use training blades." Training blades were weapons used by protoss younglings. Their function was similar to psi blades, but they couldn't do any real damage. If a psi blade runs through a human body, the person dies. If a training blade goes through a human body, that person would know he was hit, but he would still be perfectly fine.

"My thanks." Jean nodded, returning the favor. "I suggest you turn the emergency warping system of you warriors to maximum power."

Emergency warping systems were used by Daelaam protoss to teleport their wounded warriors back to safety. Usually these warping systems could only bring the units back a short distance and would only be activated just before the warrior receive the fatal blow, but it still managed to save the lives of many Daelaam protoss. Most of those saved were maimed and crippled, but they could still be put inside a dragoon or an immortal and continue to serve their people.

The emergency warping systems had many settings. At the maximum setting, they could bring the warriors to safety as soon as their shields depleted. The protoss wouldn't even be scratched.

There was no need to kill any protoss in the duel. If she did, Selendis might still back off, but she wouldn't do it happily. Ever since the fall of Aiur, protoss lives have been in short supply.

Selendis paused as if she was shocked by how confident Jean was. Did this girl seriously think a squad of terran had any chance of taking on a group of zealots of equal numbers? Nonetheless, she still showed enough respect.

"I am sending you the coordinates of nexus. Send your champions there."

The transmission was cut off, and everyone in the bridge looked to Jean. Some of them were impressed while others were slightly more satisfied than before. Dr. Hanson, for one, had a small grin on her face, as if thanking the move Jean did to protect her people. As far as she could see, the Raiders had a much larger chance to win a duel than to win an all out war, and victory of the Raiders meant survival of the colonists.

"It was a good idea to send a group of champions instead of our entire army, but who should be our champions?" Horner asked. "It's 50 against 50. Our men will not have any air support or heavy firepower. Who can win against a group of protoss with just standard weapons?"

It was a well known fact that a single protoss could take down an entire squad of terran. That might change if the terran had air support or overwhelming firepower, but that was obviously cheating in this circumstance. If the Raiders used the Hyperion to provide cover fire, then Selendis would call down her fleet. Neither side wanted to see that happen.

"Well." In the center of attention, Jean tilted her head. "I have been working on something lately…"

* * *

Beside one of the nexus, fifty light beams dropped down from the sky and hit an empty space. Within each light beam, a figure solidified. When the light beams disappeared, the empty space they landed on was no longer empty. Instead, fifty figures were there.

Protoss technology could warp their units to anywhere with a power field as long as they had sufficient support structures. This ability to efficiently reinforce and retreat was another thing that kept protoss units so potent.

All fifty figures were zealots. Two psionic amplifiers on their wrists made up the weapons and the plasma shield generator on their chest composed of the defenses. Their heads were raised high in confidence, as if they were about to take a casual walk rather than be the champions that would participate in a fight that would decide the fate of thousands.

They didn't even consider the possibility that they might lose. After all, they were zealots. Unless they were hopelessly outnumbered or outgunned, which was not the situation here, they would always be victorious. No zealot would be afraid of participating in a fair fight, and this was certainly a fair fight.

A distance away, ten terran dropships approached. A squad of five phoenixes quickly went beside the transports and escorted them toward the nexus.

The dropships landed at beside the nexus. Fifty figures walked out.

Out of these fifty figures, twenty of them were marines. They were smaller than normal marines, but the protoss zealots didn't see the difference. Maybe these marines were just shorter than other marines? Just like the size, the strange T shaped helmets of these marines didn't attract any attention either.

Another twenty units of this small squad were much larger than marines. Two K12 grenade launchers were attached to their arms. Just like the marines, their helmets glowed in blue light.

The last ten units were even smaller than the marines. Jetpacks on their back powered them forward. Unlike the marines and marauders, they had a pair of P-45 gauss pistols by their side. One major difference they had compared to standard reapers was the lack of breathing masks.

After all, machines don't need to breathe.

Twenty Warden marines. Twenty Warden marauders. Ten Warden reapers.

Jean wasn't sleeping around in the two days between the end of the battle of Meinhoff and when Dr. Hanson realized Haven was in trouble. The amount of progress a girl could do with her full attention and a strangely enhanced mind was enormous.

She was able to develop Warden AIs for both marauders and reapers. It took a while for Swann to come up with modified marauder suits and reapers suits, but Jean suspected the man was touched by the amount of Raiders that fell on Meinhoff. Perhaps some of the dead were his friend. Perhaps he was simply shaken in general.

Either way, Swann worked hard, and a while ago Jean was able to arm twenty marauders and ten reapers, along with twelve more Warden marines to cover up the losses on Meinhoff.

The first battle of these fresh Warden units was this dual.

As champions from both sides got into battle position, their commanders started observing the situation as well. Selendis observed the dual through an observer that was positioned above the nexus. Its advanced sensor matrix made Selendis feel like she was on the battlefield herself.

In the Hyperion bridge, Jean pressed a few buttons, and one of the many computer screens was suddenly divided into fifty different pieces. Each of them was connected to the scanner of one of the Warden units. Basically, the Raider High Command could see anything their champions saw.

"Go on. Defeat your enemies and seize your glory." Selendis ordered quietly through the khala. The terran champions looked tough. None of them made a single move. As an experienced commander, she knew this meant these men were extremely disciplined.

Still, she didn't think this would be a problem. She didn't sense any psionic signal from these men. If any terran infantry unit could take on protoss zealots in a one on one, it would be the ghosts, and these units were definitely not ghosts.

"Warden Command Unit C001. Terminate all labeled protoss units."

"Affirmative." Warden Command Unit C001, AKA the Warden captain that commanded the strike team on Meinhoff, set its gaze on the fifty protoss champions. Warden units didn't have a "defeat but not wound" setting, so Jean had to give the order to kill. They couldn't distinguish the protoss champions from normal protoss guards either, so Jean had to specifically label the champions out.

And so the battle has begun.

* * *

With an ear piercing war cry, the fifty zealots formed a blur of energy as they charged at their terran opponents. Selendis was proud, but she wasn't stupid. Even a fool would realize the Raiders wouldn't just send in a group of recruits and basically give the colonists up. They proposed this duel. They must have some sort of plan.

To save herself from suffering a defeat from a group of terrans because of a careless mistake, Selendis chose her champions carefully. These fifty zealots were the best zealots of her entire fleet. Half of them were from her guards while the other half came from captains of small squads. Any one of them has slaughtered dozens of zerg.

These experienced warriors knew as melee units they needed to get on top of their ranged enemies to win. Perhaps they would take some punishment on the way, but as soon as their blades make contact with terran armors, their victory would be sealed.

The zealots were fast, but terran sensors were even faster. As soon as the zealots made their first move, the Warden units' sensors caught onto their position. The advanced AI of the Warden captain started turning.

 _"Protoss zealots detected..."_

 _"Accessing zealot data now…"_

 _"Advantage: Powerful melee capability. Durable shield. Known ability: Charge."_

 _"Weakness: Lacks ranged capability."_

 _"Accessing tactics now."_

 _"Battle tactic accessed…"_

The Warden network might not be as efficient as the zerg psionic network, but they could still transmit the message from the captain down to its underlings with little delay.

The twenty marauders were the first to take action. They raised their grenade launchers at the zealots and, after a brief moment of calculating, opened fire.

Forty grenades with concussive shells slammed into the protoss flank. With a series of explosions, all the zealots found themselves knocked off their feet. The effect of the explosions pushed them out of charge mode and put a short pause to their advance.

The leading zealot growled, suppressing the bad feeling in his chest. He had dealt with terran marauders before. Their weapons could indeed slow down the movement of both him and his brethren, but in order for forty grenades to include all fifty zealots in the explosion radius, the projectiles must land in certain locations. Normally, these grenades would only hit the five zealots in the front and knock them out while the forty five zealots in the back charge forward and dismantle the terran squadron.

This was bad, but the zealot had no time to think because the second wave of attack was already here.

The marines stepped backward while continuously firing on the zealots. There were only twenty of them, and supposedly the amount of damage they could do should be nothing when divided over fifty zealots, but Warden units were much smarter than that.

Instead of just blindly lashing out at the zealots, the Warden marines focused on a single zealot. The zealots were forced out of charge mode, and their slowed figures became perfect targets for the Warden AIs.

Within seconds, that zealot's shield reached a critical degree. The emergency warping system was triggered, and the next second when the shield fell apart, the zealot was already back in the safety of Selendis' mothership.

"No!" Seeing himself inside the large vessel and realizing he was defeated, the warrior screamed. "I can still fight!"

The zealot felt like he was bullied. This was supposed to be a duel! He imagined charging into the enemy flank and running his blade, training blades or not, through enemy bodies. Even if he would fall, he would fall after taking down half the enemies.

Being knocked over and taken out within seconds after the battle began wasn't exactly what he had in mind.

Selendis' blue eyes twitched. With her observers, she keenly noticed what happened, and for a moment she suspected the Firstborn might lose this battle.

The way all those twenty marines fired on a single target...Selendis doubted even the best protoss adepts and dragoons could do that. The amount of discipline and calculation this seemingly simple action needed was astonishing.

Suddenly, she grew very curious about the girl behind this duel.


	26. Chapter 26

Despite the unfortunate defeat of the first zealot, the battle on the ground was still going on.

As the zealots were stumbling forward, trying to close the distance, the Warden units attacked mercilessly. Marauder concussive shells kept on crashing into the zealots, slowing them down even further. Marines kept on focusing fire on individual zealots. Twenty gauss rifles at the same time were simply too much for the plasma shield of normal zealots to handle. Every ten seconds a zealot would be forced out of the battlefield.

"For Daelaam!" The leading zealot knew the situation was bad. If they couldn't close in the distance quickly, they would be kited and defeated. They have lost the upper hand as soon as the first wave of concussive shells hit every single zealot in the field. After that, with decreased speed, they no longer had any hope of dodging the terran weapons.

They needed to make progress right here right now.

As if the war cry inserted a new surge of strength into their bodies, the zealots suddenly moved much faster than before. One of the zealot roared, and immediately, despite the effect of the concussive shell, he entered charge mode with sheer willpower.

Charging at one of the marauders, the zealot grinned with pride. So what if these terran had some tricks up their sleeves? Nothing could stand against the might of the Firstborn.

And then the marauder gave him another grenade, and the zealot, sadly, found himself back in material form again.

"No!" He never had a chance to finish his frustrated scream because twenty gauss rifles turned onto him. A wave of bullets sent him back to his commander's capital ship.

Nevertheless, the outburst of the zealots definitely contributed. After six more defeated zealots, the remaining protoss warriors found themselves closing in.

After all, these were elite warriors who have been trained in the art of combat for hundreds of years. Their magic like psionic power enhanced their already powerful melee capability. Even if they were temporarily slowed down, how long would it take them to walk over a few hundred meters?

Seeing a wave of pissed off blade wielding alien warriors closing in, the Warden captain's AI processed as quickly as ever.

The marauders moved back while firing, slowing the zealots down while keeping as much distance between them and the zealots as possible. Marines carefully stutter-stepped. Suddenly, the ten reapers that didn't contribute much in the previous battle appeared.

Their jetpacks powered them to right in front of the zealots. Just as the zealots were able to reach these pesky terran, the reapers suddenly stopped. Instead of meeting the reapers head on, the zealots found themselves running into a wave of explosives of all sorts.

KD8 charges could toss the zealots around. Despite their psionic power, they were still too light to withstand the blast of the explosions. Those sent flying around were the lucky ones. The unlucky ones received a D8 demolition charge in the face. Explosives designed to punch through building armors easily punched a hole through the personal plasma armor and sent the protoss to safety, whether they wanted it or not.

As the explosions kept on appearing in the middle of the protoss flank, a few zealots were tossed toward the wrong direction and away from their brothers and sisters. Immediately, reaper AIs seized the opportunity and swarmed upon the individual units. Twenty gauss pistols might take a while to rip open plasma shields, but the melee zealots had no way of hitting the terran. Some damage was better than no damage at all.

Reaper jetpacks gave them an almost unfair amount of mobility. As long as the reapers themselves didn't panic or miscalculate, they would never be caught up by the zealots. Unfortunately for the protoss, their enemy this time was someone who could never panic.

As the zealots were tossed over their feet, the marauders and marines returned as well.

The endless mixture of gauss rifles, marauder shells, and occasional reaper shots echoed through the battlefield.

The protoss guards observing the battlefield were almost sickened. In a real fight, this small group of terran would be obliterated by a single psionic storm or a couple immortals or dragoons.

Unfortunately, it was protoss tradition to use templars in duels like this. Dragoons and immortals were great soldiers in battles, but duels were about skills, not technology. Dragoons and immortals relied more on their high tech armors than skill with the blades.

Then again, if the protoss squad had even a single high templar, then the battle would have ended very soon. The reason this battle was still going was because Selendis felt it was unfair to use high templars when Raiders didn't have ghosts. Plus, it was pretty tough to use high templars and still keep the enemies alive. Psionic storms couldn't distinguish between friends and foes.

This was a fatal mistake.

In the field, half the protoss champions were already gone while those still on the field had their shields exhausted. All the while, the only losses the terran suffered was in term of ammunition. Not one Warden unit has fallen.

Everytime the zealots tried to force a charge, the Warden units they were charging toward would quickly move away. At the same time, at least one concussive shell would hit the zealot and either knock him out or delay him substantially. When the zealot finally got out of the effect of the marauders, the same cycle would repeat again.

The zealots tried to spread out to minimize the effect of the concussive shells, but that only made it easier for Warden marines and reapers to target individual zealots.

At this point all the zealots could hope for was the terran arsenal to be depleted before all the protoss were gone. Without bullets for their guns, these terran would be like tigers without claws. Protoss psionic blades could rip open their blue armors and make them pay for the shame they brought upon the Firstborn.

Most of the zealots were already too consumed by rage to remember they carried training blades and were in a duel. At least ten minutes of continuous bombardment while not being able to land a single strike on the enemy made these elite warriors mad.

These zealots were experienced. They have been in almost every kind of terrible situation. Every one of them have been surrounded, wounded, and even almost killed before, but what they were going through was nothing like anything they have faced.

The Warden units didn't care about what was going on in the zealots' mind. All they knew was to do what they were programmed to do.

In the end the dual ended the expected way. As the last zealot was consumed by a beam of light, and as his war cry barely faded from the battlefield, all fifty Warden units formed formation in the open field again. Not one of them was grazed. Not even once.

Zero to fifty. Fifty AIs in specialized armors just defeated fifty elite zealots without a single loss.

In the bridge, Jean felt everyone looking at her in what could be described as admiration. Everyone present knew how good zealots were, and that was what made this so impressive. If the zealots themselves were so powerful, then what type of person could create an army that could defeat these zealots without a single loss? Even if it was fifty ghosts here, they might still take some damage before finally massacring all the zealots.

Jean wasn't moved by the admiring looks. She was too busy using this rare chance to compute the combat capabilities of these Warden units.

Undoubtedly, these Warden units were good, but they were only able to achieve this score because they were allowed to. The protoss had no ranged units. They had no spell-casters. They had no air support. All they had was a group of melee units that could never get close enough to their enemies to use their blades.

Being able to defeat them wasn't impressive.

Still, unit modification could wait. Jean turned to the crew members.

"Establish a communication with the protoss."

The crew members nodded and turned to work.

Jean didn't wait long before the computer screen in front of her was occupied by the female protoss executor.

"Executor Selendis." Jean acknowledged, waiting to see her attitude toward this matter.

If this was a Tal'darim executor, then Jean was certain she would ignore what happened in the duel and just open fire and burn everything, but the Daelaam were honorable. They would never attack former brothers in arms to cover up their defeat.

"You have won, terran." Jean could see some dissatisfaction from Selendis, but the executor nonetheless stayed true to her words. "As stated before, I will pull back my fleet and leave these people to you. I hope your trust in these terran will not be wasted."

"You have my thanks."

Just before the communication was cut, Selendis suddenly remembered she didn't even know who the terran talking to her was. Normally she wouldn't bother asking for the name of some random human, but what happened in the field was enough for Jean to leave an impression in her mind.

"What is your name?"

"Jean. Lieutenant Jean Turner."

Selendis nodded and turned off the comm, leaving the Raiders to themselves.

If it was anyone else that suddenly became the center of attention of dozens of men and women, she would be proud. But Jean didn't find any reason to be proud. She could pretend to be happy or sad or angry or disappointed simply because it would help her accomplish her mission, but pride couldn't do anything for her.

"Sir," She turned back to Raynor. "The protoss have backed off, but we still need to find a solution for the infested."

Raynor was still thinking about the magnificent performance of the Warden units. He has seen more battle than anyone else in this room, and he couldn't help but think what would happen if there was an army of these units instead of just a small squad.

"Huh?" It took him a while to realize what Jean was saying. "Right. Doctor," He turned to Ariel Hanson. "You need to find a cure for the zerg infestation," He bit his lips. "quickly."

Of all people, he knew how fast zerg infestation could spread. If Dr. Hanson couldn't develop a countermeasure in a few days, then the Raiders would be forced to leave the colonists to the zerg. There would be no terran left to cure.

Hanson nodded. She didn't need Raynor to remind her how urgent the situation was. "I will work on it right away." She turned and walked out of the bridge with absolute haste.

"Jean," Raynor turned to the young lieutenant he trusted with all his heart. The girl has never disappointed him, and he believed she never will. "I want you to take command of the Raiders for this event."

Jean rose her eyebrows, but deep down she wasn't surprised.

Raynor might be, to a degree, a love puppy, but he has seen too much carnage done by the zerg. He knew with all his heart that unless Dr. Hanson could come up with a cure in a few days, which was next to impossible, then the Raiders would need to destroy the colonies with all the colonists in them.

Ironically, the Raiders fought to stop the protoss from massacring the colonies, only to be able to do the job themselves.

If that was to happen, then Raynor didn't want to be the one ordering the hit. He admired Dr. Hanson, and he knew how much killing the colonists would hurt her. Granted, Jean pulling the trigger would be painful as well, but Hanson practically viewed Jean as an enemy, and it couldn't really get any worse. However, if Raynor, the hero in Dr. Hanson's eyes, order the termination of thousands of infested colonists, then there was no telling what the doctor would do.

Whether it was to preserve a medical expert for the Raiders or to save the soul of a poor woman who lost everything, Raynor couldn't be held responsible for what had to be done.

"Yes sir." Jean didn't have a problem with that. She didn't need to care what Dr. Hanson thought about her. This would be a great chance for her to increase her authority. She agreed without any hesitation.


	27. Chapter 27

Lab. The Hyperion.

"Ahhh!" Dr. Hanson groaned in frustration as she slammed her fist into a lab table.

It had been two days since the protoss left the planet, but trouble didn't leave along with the protoss.

Everyday Dr. Hanson would hear reports from her men in the colonies. The number of infested was increasing exponentially. At one point the colonial commander have ordered the few militias they had to patrol across the streets and gun down any infested they spot. Civilians were told to stay home, but this was only a temporary solution. There weren't enough militias to make sure everyone in the camp is secured. Some of the infested weren't taken out in time, and they were able to spread the infestation further and further.

The militias soon realized their enemies were increasing as the battle continued.

To her utter hatred, Dr. Hanson heard reports that lieutenant Jean Turner, now in command of Raynor's Raiders, ordered the Raiders to remain on the Hyperion instead of enter the colonies to protect the survivors.

If she was any less logical she would've confronted the woman, but she knew her words couldn't change Jean's mind. All she could achieve was waste precious time that she couldn't afford to waste.

Setting her glasses on one of the lab tables and rubbing her eyes, Dr. Hanson felt her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. She hasn't slept for two days, and as a completely organic human being she was getting exhausted. But she couldn't sleep. She couldn't afford to sleep. Every second she spent resting would mean the death of god knew how many of her people.

Suddenly, Dr. Hanson heard some noise from outside. Growling, she stood up on her numbed legs and walked out of the lab.

She saw Raider soldiers running through the hallway. Men and women in full armor ran past her.

"What is happening?" Dr. Hanson didn't believe Jean suddenly found some kindness in her heart and decided to deploy troops to the ground to take out the infested. If she was going to do that she would've done it two days ago.

Most of the Raiders simply ran past Hanson as if they didn't hear her words, but eventually a marine with white stripes on her shoulder stopped.

"Doctor, the infestation have spread to most of the camp. Commander Turner has ordered all units to prepare for combat." She looked at Dr. Hanson with a sense of sympathy in her eyes. "We will be terminating the colony down there at a moment's notice."

" _What_?" Dr. Hanson almost bit her tongue in surprise. "But...she can't…I can still save them!"

Under the helmet, the female marine bit her lips. As someone from Agria, she knew how much Dr. Hanson cared about her people. This woman was willing to die to protect those colonists. Unfortunately she also knew there was nothing that could be done. She agreed with the protoss executor on this. The only cure for zerg infestation was purification by fire. Kill thousands to save millions was a worthy trade.

"You're from Agria, aren't you?" Dr. Hanson's eyes suddenly caught onto the white stripe on the marine's armor. "These are your brothers and sisters down there too!"

"I am a member of Raynor's Raiders and those people down there are zerg." The female marine said with determination. She lost everyone she knew about on Agria. As for now, the Raiders were the only ones she cared about. What happened to the colonists was sad, but sad things happen everywhere everyday. She wouldn't falter from doing what had to be done just because she was sympathetic. She looked at Dr. Hanson one last time.

"Take care." She turned and ran down the hall.

Left alone, Ariel Hanson didn't know how she walked back into the lab.

She was running out of ideas. Unless she could produce a cure in a few minutes, she would have no way of stopping Jean from burning the colony below, with all the infested in it, to ash. But at this point it was clear that she couldn't come up with the cure in time.

She considered calling Raynor and asking for his help, but the last time she went to Raynor's room, the man refused to see her. After all, there was nothing Raynor could do, and seeing Hanson would just mean more disappointment for her.

At this moment, Hanson knew the fate of her people was sealed. They had no choice but to die, be revived, and be killed again.

And all of this was because of one girl. If Jean had agreed to send in the Raiders and suppress the infested, then the infestation would be much slower. It would buy her more time to develop a cure. But no. Jean Turner believed the lives of a few hundred Raiders was worth more than that of thousands of innocent.

Deep down Hanson knew blaming Jean everything was unfair. She was a Raider officer, and all she did was do what was best for the interest of the Raiders, but Hanson wasn't exactly logical right now. She hasn't had any sleep or much food in the past two days. She was about to lose everything she ever stood for. Her hero abandoned her. She was alone, exhausted, scared, angry, and lost.

Suddenly, her reddened eyes rested on a syringe of zerg virus she used for experiments.

If she could infest herself and then infest the entire ship and all the Raiders, then she wouldn't be worried about the Raiders slaughtering her people. After all, they would all be zerg. In fact she wouldn't even need to worry about developing a cure for the infestation.

She would protect her people, whether they were terran or zerg...Plus, she had a girl to kill.

* * *

"Commander," A crew member walked up to Jean. "The infestation is spreading. The colonial militia is losing control."

Jean nodded. "We can't afford to take action, at least not now." If the Raiders act now, unless they were willing to destroy the entire colony with both the civilians and the infested in it, they could only use infantry forces to clear the infested out. They had no way of knowing who was infested and who wasn't, which meant a perfectly innocent colonist might suddenly turn into a zerg combatant in just seconds. The Raiders might save a dozen civilians, only to be hit in the back by a dozen infested. Under this circumstance, the couple hundred infantry forces had little chance of victory/

The Raiders had no choice but to stand and watch the infestation spread. However, if the entire colony fell, Jean could easily terminate the infestation with the help of bombardment of the Hyperion and fighters. Unlike on Meinhoff, the infested here were only thousands at most. Terran bombardment could effective dwindle their numbers and cleanse their presence.

The crew member nodded. As bad as it was to sit and watch innocent terran being massacred, it would be even worse to have fellow Raiders take the place of the colonists and be the ones slaughtered. Total strangers versus brothers in arms. It was an easy decision.

Jean walked to a hologram map of the colony. Most of the Raider infantry units, including the war pigs and the hammer securities, were positioned around the colony. The five vikings were in an open space close to the camp. They could lift off into the air and, along with the Hyperion, unload on the soon to be infested colony and get rid of most of the infested. The infantry units would then press on and kill everything that survived the initial bombardment.

Suddenly, another crew member walked up to Jean. "Commander, there's something wrong with the lab."

"Explain."

"All the cameras in the lab have gone out." The woman paused. "Something's wrong down there."

Jean's mind turned. She knew in the normal history Dr. Hanson would infest herself after Raynor sided with the protoss and destroyed the colonies. She wasn't sure whether she was doing the same thing here, not that it mattered.

If Hanson was infested, then she could just kill her. The doctor was a good scientist, but if her danger overcame her contribution, then Jean would terminate her without a second thought.

Most of the infantry units, even the Warden units, were on the ground, but that wasn't a problem.

"Maintain a communication channel with me and notify me if anything is changed." Jean walked out of the bridge. Her guard captain was waiting outside. "Bring your men and meet me in front of my room."

The captain left without a word. Jean quickly went back to her room.

When she exited her room half a minute later, she was in her white armor. Her helmet was sealed shut, hiding her face behind a layer of white hardened glass. Two specialized pistols were in her hands.

The reaper captain and eighteen reaper guards followed her down the hall toward the lab.

Running by another corner, Jean stopped at the sight of two dead marines on the ground. Their helmets were being smashed open by something sharp. The lab was as important as the armory and the bridge, and some guards were given the mission of protecting it. Even when Jean pulled the majority of the personnel she had to the surface of the planet, there were still two guards at the lab.

Unfortunately, they weren't prepared against threats from inside. When the lab door opened, they didn't even turn and look. As far as they knew, anyone that came out of there would be friendly. Usually they were right. This time they weren't.

The two marines became the prime victims of the infested scientist. Dr. Hanson, in the heart of her hatred, injected herself with a refined sample of the zerg virus. As a result, she was stronger than normal infested and was able to ravage through the unsuspecting marines.

"Sound the alarm and lock down the ship. Do an internal scan and locate Dr. Hanson." Before Jean didn't want a battle alarm to make Hanson realize a killing party was on its way and flee the lab, but now she no longer had that concern.

"Yes sir. Shall we pull back the forces on Haven?" Right now the Hyperion was at its weakest point. Most of the combatants were gone, and apart from the guards there were only some crew members left. The Hyperion was a powerful ship, but it was defenseless against enemies from the inside. It's not like the Raiders had the money to build internal defenses like automated turrets.

"No." Jean turned around. "I will deal with her."

* * *

Despite her deformation, Dr. Ariel Hanson has never felt better.

Throughout her life, she has been burdened by the responsibility to protect her people. Living in a world full of aliens and conspiracists, the defenseless colonies could only sit back and hope someone would be kind enough to protect them.

Not anymore.

Even on the Hyperion, Dr. Hanson could sense thousands of her people, more healthy than ever, on Haven, and that number was continuously increasing. This time they would no longer be the hunted. This time, they would be the hunter.

She knew that as soon as she punched two holes in the face of two Raider marines. The hardened glass of the CMC armor crumbled under her newly grown claws. She could see that one of them was from Agria, and was, therefore, her people, but she didn't feel a sense of guilt.

The good doctor thought, no matter how twisted she has become, she was still saving her people, but in reality, the infestation has already changed her. Her loyalty was to the swarm.

The sound of alarms penetrated the ship. Dr. Hanson smirked and kept on walking. She knew she was doomed. Even mutated, she had no chance of massacring the dozens of crew members who were probably armed now that the alarm came off. Now she realized her plan before infesting herself, the plan of taking over the ship and kill Jean Turner in the process, was a foolish one. But the zerg part in her forced her to do as much as she could for the swarm. In this case, it was to do as much damage to the Hyperion as possible.

Turning around another corner, Dr. Hanson found herself staring at three Raider crew members.

"Zerg!" The staring went both ways.

The crew members didn't have their armors on, but they were carrying gauss rifles. They were taken by surprise, but they didn't let that surprise overcome them. Immediately they opened fire.

Hanson jumped into the air with incredible speed. She could feel the bullets fly by below her. The crew members tried to move their guns up, but they weren't equipped with CMC armors, and the weight of the gauss rifles and the impact of recoil was too much for normal human beings to handle with ease. It took a few seconds for the rifles to get into position, and those seconds were all the infested needed.

Hanson landed on top of one of the crew members and broke his neck on impact. A female crew member desperately swung her rifle at the infested, only to miss and be stabbed in the chest by five sharpened fingers. The last crew tried to fall back, but he never had the chance as Hanson stepped on the first dead crew member and leaped onto the third.

In a melee situation, terran units were always weaker than zerg ones.

Pulling her claws out of the chest of the third crew member and dropping the bloody heart of the man on the ground, Hanson suddenly heard a gunshot which was immediately followed by a sharp pain in her back.

The pain didn't completely disable the infested doctor. She turned around and faced Jean.

The battle instincts told Hanson to either strike now or turn and run to fight another day, but the hatred boiling in the woman's chest suggested otherwise. For the moment, the hate was even strong enough to suppress the instincts that were carved into her body.

"You!" She shouted. Her voice was no longer that of a soft woman. Instead, it had been turned to the ear-piercing screech of an average zerg. Her face was deformed, and a set of sharp teeth replaced her cute lips. Overall, this creature had few resemblances of the doctor it once was. "You made me into this monster! It's all your fault! I'm gonna rip you apart..."

 _"Bang."_

Without another word, Hanson collapsed with a hole in her forehead. At this close of a distance, the mutated carapace did nothing against the bullet of a P-38 gauss pistol. Even without the hole, the bullet had enough momentum to turn the brain of the infested to liquid.

Standing back up, Jean nodded at the reaper captain, who returned the pistol he just fired back into his holster. While Dr. Hanson was doing her talking, Jean made a sign for the reaper captain to take aim. The captain was blocked by Jean and Dr. Hanson didn't see him. There might be some zerg with the capability of sensing enemy presence with psionic power, but Dr. Hanson wasn't at that point yet.

When he was ready, the reaper captain told Jean through the radio. Jean knelt down and gave a clear line of sight for the reaper captain. The entire process went flawlessly. The infested that killed five armed men and women was taken down by a single bullet.

The girl walked up Dr. Hanson and emptied the entire clip of her handgun into the body's head and chest before turning and leaving.

She was never a talkative person.

As she walked, she touched her earpiece.

"Commander, it has been confirmed. The colony is completely infested. We've lost it."

"In that case, send in the battle groups. Destroy the colony."


	28. Chapter 28

The battle of Haven went just like Jean panned. The infested had no leader. Most of them didn't even have any ability to think. They had nearly ten times the number of the Raiders, but the battle went one-sided, with the Raiders on the winning side.

The Hyperion descended on the base, unchallenged. Anywhere with more than ten infested present received the greeting of a string of laser batteries.

Without command, the infested were crowded together, which maximized the power of the batteries. A single shot could melt its way through half a dozen infested. A single viking Lanzer torpedo could cause an explosion that could rip through dozens of infested units.

It was a massacre.

When the Hyperion moved away from the colony, the infested were down to one third their former numbers, but that was just the first wave.

Hundreds of Raider infantry units moved into the colony.

War pigs on stimpacks gunned down anything not in a CMC armor. Hammer securities fired their grenades into tight clumps of infested, knocking them over and denying them whatever chance they had of engaging the Raiders in melee. Warden marines advanced slowly but steadily, leaving a trail of bodies with their heads blasted open behind.

One hour later, the last infested collapsed with half its head gone.

* * *

As the battle ended, Jean returned command back to Raynor.

The man was slightly saddened by what happened to Dr. Hanson, but he knew Jean did what had to be done. Hanson made a choice, and she paid the price.

The missions on Meinhoff and Haven were not cost efficient at all. The Raiders lost dozens of men and countless ammunition while getting almost nothing in return.

Fortunately, the Raiders had a stable source of income. After jumping to and staying at Redstone for two days, the Raiders found themselves with 20000 units of minerals.

"We should put an outpost here." Jean suggested as she watched the SCVs mine from the rich mineral patches on the planet.

Redstone held hundreds of thousands of units of minerals. If the Raiders could build a permanent base and gradually empty the planet, they would have enough resources to build a fleet after a while. Unfortunately, the last time the Raiders came here they didn't have the manpower to do that.

This was slightly different now.

Raynor rose his eyebrows, intrigued at the suggestion. More minerals meant more units against Mengsk. "But who should we leave here?"

Being placed on a planet where there was nothing but minerals and lava wasn't exactly ideal. There was no reason the mercenaries would stay here. Even the Mar Sarans would have trouble in a situation this tough. The Dominion might have the strict discipline to enforce their commands, but Raynor needed to care about the opinions of his men.

"The Warden units." Jean had everything thought out. "I think I can develop AIs for SCVs before we leave. Swann can make some modifications as well. It shouldn't take long. We can establish a colony and use Warden SCVs to mine from these mineral patches. These SCVs can then construct buildings and other Warden units for defense with the exact minerals they mined."

Raynor agreed, and two days later when the Hyperion left the planet, they left one command center, one Warden captain, twenty Warden marines, and twenty Warden SCVs behind.

For the Raiders, minerals only meant more units. The next stop was Deadman's Port.

After over five minutes of painful love chat between Horner and Mira, Raynor, Jean, Horner, Swann, and Tychus gathered around in the bridge once more.

Once again, this was the time to discuss what units the Raiders would purchase.

As always, the chief engineer started.

"I'll need 2000 minerals to replenish our ammunition."

20000 - 18000.

"Sir, I think we should still maintain a reaper corps. They've got some serious firepower. They may come in handy some time." Horner concluded.

"Indeed, but the question is, should we get Warden reapers or mercenary ones." Raynor looked at Jean, the creator of the Wardens.

Both Warden units and mercenary units had their advantages.

Warden units were tougher in a straight up engagement. These programmed AIs weren't influenced by emotions like fear or anger. Whatever situation they were in, Warden units could always make the best decisions. In a fair duel, one Warden reaper could take down at least two mercenary reapers.

However, that was by no means saying mercenary units were always worse than their Warden counterparts.

There were two types of Warden AIs. The cheaper version didn't have the ability to think independently. They needed to be given orders by the second type of AIs or by higher powers to act. The second type of AI, the command units, could analyze the situation and give orders to its underlings, but they were time-consuming and costly to program.

In contrast, every mercenary unit could think independently. In special cases like infiltration missions or protection missions, mercenary units were much suitable.

The mercenary units didn't need to be specially modified and programmed either. All the Raiders needed to do was pay the minerals, and they would find themselves with an army in just a few days.

"I suggest we get twenty mercenary reapers. That's it. Warden reapers are better in an all-out fight, but they can be replaced by Warden marines and marauders."

Raynor tapped something on his shopping list and took off 2000 minerals from his bank.

"If you ask me I say we just dump all our minerals into those machines." Tychus, as always, didn't shy away from giving his opinion. By "those machines" he was referring to the Warden units.

Jean looked at him and had a guess of why he was supporting that, but she didn't say anything.

Horner, for once, didn't argue with the criminal. His dislike of Tychus was one thing, but he wouldn't let that impair his judgment and make decisions good for the Raiders. "That is not a bad idea."

Raynor looked at Jean, waiting for her opinion. After all, she was the one that created the Warden units.

But Jean said something that surprised everyone.

"I think it is best to split our resources between individual mercenary units, mercenaries from Mira's Marauders, and Warden units."

"Why?" Raynor expected Jean to support the usage of Warden units. After all, she created them. The more Warden units there were, the more accomplishing she should feel. Plus, the power of Warden units dwarfed that of their mercenary counterparts.

"Warden units are, after all, machines. In the end, they can be disabled or even turned against us with the press of a button. I have built countermeasures, but it is safer if we have other forces just in case."

Jean knew there was a potential risk for her. She singlehandedly programmed all the codes for the Warden AIs. No one knew better about these units than she did, which meant she could take full control of the Warden units and turn them against anyone if she wanted to. There was no telling what backdoor she inserted.

Raynor trusted her now, but there was no telling when that trust would crumble.

The normal way to maximize her profit would be to stay quiet about this nature of machines and build as many Warden units as possible so she could turn them into her personal army when she needed to.

But Jean knew that was not as ideal as it sounded. She didn't think everyone else on the ship was stupid. If she could think of this, then so could they. If Raynor or Horner realized the Warden units had a disadvantage that could potentially lead to the destruction of Raynor's Raiders, whether if it was used by Jean or someone else, they wouldn't be too happy about Jean not telling them that.

If that happened, Jean would lose the trust she spent so long to establish.

In that case, why not just announce the potential threat to everyone and tell them to prepare for it? Anyone with a conspiracy in her mind wouldn't show her best card to her potential enemies and help with developing a way to stop it.

Plus, there was no going around the Warden units. Whether or not she brought up this problem, the Raiders would always need to use the Warden units.

"Is that necessary?" Raynor frowned. It was good to have Warden units on his side. It was not as good to have them on the other side.

"It's very unlikely, but I prefer to be safe."

"Fine. If there's anything I learned from my old days it's that you can never be too safe." Raynor returned his eyes to the computer screen and continued his calculations. The others each grabbed a computer pad and scrolled through the mercenary options. To a degree, it was like shopping online.

In the end, the final decision was made.

5000 minerals were given to Swann. They would be used to purchase materials necessary to build 50 Warden marines, which Jean would then program. Despite the problem, the combat ability of Warden units was still impressive.

3000 units of minerals were turned into 6 additional vikings. Compared to goliaths, these vikings were much more useful. They had sufficient anti air and anti ground firepower as well as great maneuverability and speed. They could fight on the ground, in the air, and in space. Finding the pilots might be a problem, but that wasn't Jean's concern.

The last 5000 minerals were used to hire 25 hammer securities and 50 war pigs, making the overall unit count for the two units to 43 and 114, respectively.

As Raynor contacted Mira Han and Graven Hill for the mercenary contracts, Jean suddenly turned her attention to the port the Hyperion was above.

"Is it ok if I go to the port for a visit?" She asked as she walked to the window of the bridge and looked out.

Raynor frowned at the request. Deadman's Port wasn't exactly a tourist attraction. It was full of mercenaries, criminals, and crooks. If someone gets down there alone, he may never come back. Best case scenario, he might turn up in a corner somewhere, dead and stripped of anything valuable. Worst case scenario, his body might never be found.

It would be even worse for a girl like Jean.

"Why would you want to go there?"

"You know, just look around." Jean shrugged, looking bored. "It's not like I'll be going to the mercenary bases. I'll be going to the neutral zone, and I'll bring my guards."

The neutral zone was an area relatively peaceful compared to the rest of Deadman's Port. Even the most ruthless thug needed a place to spend the money they stole and to eat and sleep. Mercenaries and criminals were no different. The neutral zone was a place where, in most cases, these criminals and mercenaries could sit down and make deals without worrying about being shot by a stray bullet. That was by no means saying it was completely safe, but it was definitely not a place where bullets fly all the directions all the time.

Some of the most powerful mercenary leaders in the port struck a deal and announced that anyone who started a war in the neutral zone would be the enemy of all the mercenary leaders.

Of course, some killing was inevitable for as long as humanity exists, so would madman, but the environment was still relatively safe considering the vast majority of the port's occupants have taken at least one life.

Some outlaws opened a few taverns there. Some of the mercenary groups who didn't have the money to build their own fortresses had their bases here as well.

"Just be careful." Raynor finally nodded. Jean wasn't a random teenage girl. She was a commander capable of fending for herself. She had more than a dozen reaper guards. As long as she wasn't foolish enough to walk into an army of enemies, she should be fine.

Jean nodded and walked out of the bridge.


	29. Chapter 29

Deadman's Port. Neutral Zone.

As surprising as it sounded, there were some bars opened up in the Neutral Zone. Mercenaries wouldn't shy away from throwing their hard earned money on drinks. As long as someone was willing to take the risk, they could make a huge profit.

In one of the bars, the door opened, and six figures walked in.

The leading one was a woman. Her blonde hair was tied into a ponytail, simple and clean. She wore a jacket and a pair of pants. Both were tight and fit her body. She looked warm and beautiful, unlike most of the occupants of the port.

Five reapers followed her like they were her knights.

Some of the drinkers looked at Jean and licked their lips, but they quickly looked down at their bottles as they saw the reapers.

The nature of reapers meant they were either extremely good or dead. Jean had five reapers by her side, so she wasn't just some random girl that could fall prey to a few drinkers. The mercenaries knew their lives were always more important than some girl. Still, they couldn't help but sneakily peek at the girl's curves.

Ignoring the lustful eyes, Jean sat down at one of the tables. She took out a computer pad from her pocket and turned it on.

The mercenaries were a crucial part in her plan. According to her research, one of the most important players in the field, Mira Han, had around fifty battlecruisers. Colonel Orlan, a mercenary leader slightly weaker than Mira, had nearly thirty capital ships. The other smaller mercenary groups had nearly seventy ships in total. That totaled up to nearly 150 capital ships.

That was not nearly enough for a fight against the Golden Armada or the Dominion Fleet, but when put to a good position they could change the tide of a battle.

Unfortunately, Jean herself needed to stay with the Raiders, so she needed someone among the mercenaries as a partner. Someone she could trust.

Mira Han was powerful, but she was too well connected to the Raiders. Jean needed someone who could stand by her whatever the situation was. Even if she launched war on the Raiders, she needed the partner she chose to aid her.

She had a few options. The name on the top of the list was the reason why she was here.

At a corner of the bar was a cloaked figure. Jean looked down on her computer screen again before walking to that table. As she walked, she whispered something to the reapers, who stayed where they were.

As she approached, Jean suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of a C-20A sniper rifle.

The figure didn't say anything, but her action was more than enough to show her opinion.

"Viper." Jean said quietly, ignoring the weapon capable of taking her life in one shot but glancing at the slant arm that was holding the rifle.

As soon as she said the name, she felt the figure's finger pressing down on the trigger of the rifle.

"I am not your enemy." She quickly stated. "Trust me. If I want you dead I wouldn't be standing here talking to you alone. I would be behind two walls of marines and a line of ravens."

The figure stayed silent for a few seconds before lowering her rifle. Still, there was no doubt she could raise it again the second she felt the need to use it. "Who are you?"

"Someone that can help you." Jean sat down in a seat facing the figure. "I know every piece of information there is about you. I know you were a former Confederate ghost whose inhibitor chip malfunctioned. I know you came to Deadman's Port to seek a living. I know Colonel Orlan managed to hack into and fix the inhibitor chip and use it to force you to do his dirty work. I know the inhibitor chip malfunctioned again, resulting in your escape. I know Orlan sent out a bounty for you that is large enough to turn everyone in this bar against you. I know you are trapped and looking for a way to get revenge on the colonel."

"It's amazing what you can find with a few minutes on the computer." She concluded.

The figure finally sighed and took off her cloak, revealing a woman with short black hair. A pair of ghost visors covered her eyes. Hostile environment suit covered her skin, labeling her identity as a ghost operative. Something that looked like a handle was attached to her belt.

"What do you want from me?"

"I want to strike a deal with you."

"Speak."

"I help you take down Colonel Orlan and make you the leader of all his remaining forces. In exchange, after you rise to power, you and your new forces will stand by me against my enemies."

The ghost smirked. "Colonel Orlan has over thirty battlecruisers and hundreds of fighters. He owns a space platform covered with orbital defenses. As far as I know, he has at least three nuclear missiles. He has over four thousand infantry units and god knows how many warbots."

"So, tell me, please, how can you help?"

If the ghost wasn't robbed of her emotion for most of her young life, she would've been smiling. Colonel Orlan was most known for his hacking skills, and he used both the money he earned and the technology itself to build and maintain his powerful forces.

She failed to see how the girl could help her. Sure, she had some reaper guards, but it would take more than some security to seal the deal.

"Like I said, I'm good with computers." Jean wasn't lying. In order to program the Warden AIs, she took hold of the codes of adjutants and several types of warbots and broke every single line of them down.

Most of the terran factions in the sector used automated AIs simply by taking over a template made by someone else and changing a few numbers. This was easy but also made them vulnerable to hacking. For instance, with the necessary security code, Raider adjutant could easily access Dominion security network and change the label of Raiders to friends and label of Dominion forces to foes, and every turret linked to the network would fire on their former comrades. This made things like orbital defenses and automated warbots extremely vulnerable.

Jean, on the other hand, developed all the codes by herself. She singlehandedly completed the work that usually required an entire team of Dominion scientists to complete, which meant as long as she could get an access point, she could hack into everything that didn't have a man in it and make them her puppets.

"Really?" The ghost wasn't impressed. "Prove it."

Jean tapped a few things on her computer pad and looked up meaningfully. "Well, that bar owner over there, for instance," She pointed at a short man behind a counter. "has just sent an encrypted message to one Colonel Orlan. Here's the message." She tossed the pad to Viper.

The female ghost glanced at the message for a second before suddenly standing up. Seeing her motion, the bar owner turned and ran for the door. He made it out two steps before he collapsed with a hole through his head.

Dead.

The drinkers rested their hands on their weapons, but none of them made a move for it. It's not like they were a friend to the bar owner. Some of them may have had a few conversations with the man, but that wasn't nearly enough for them to risk their lives and try to take down a ghost. Plus, they didn't know the woman was worth a ton.

"Impressive, but can you fight off an army?" Jean glanced at the bar owner and tapped another key on her pad. "Because that's what is coming here. I count at least fifty marines and four goliaths approaching. Two banshees are in the air. I have to admit. The colonel is not exactly dedicated to following his own rules."

Viper groaned. "Follow me." She hissed and walked out of the backdoor of the bar. Jean grinned and followed. She was joined by the five reapers.

As they left, Viper psionically sensed a small army entering the bar she just left. The random gunshots suggested that the drunk customers weren't happy with being disrupted by the colonel's men, but the shots immediately died down.

Viper and Jean walked for a few more blocks before entering what seemed like a house. Viper pulled over a chair and sat down. Jean got down as well and crossed her legs. The reapers waited outside the entrance.

"What's your plan?" The female ghost finally asked. The deal Jean provided was fair, but if they wanted to be alive after this they would need to plan everything carefully.

"Our eventual purpose is the death of Colonel Orlan and your control over his forces, but we don't have the men, so we need to use something else to exert control." Jean explained. She had most of this planned out a while ago. "Something like the automated missile turrets, gun turrets, orbital cannons, and computer programmed warbots. I did a little digging and realized the colonel really relies on his AI forces."

"Correct. Orlan has enough orbital defenses to take down his entire fleet. He has over three hundred warbots. They are enough to launch a surprise attack on his main forces." Viper had been with Orlan for years. Orlan was good with encryption and decryption, and this made him ignorant. He was confident that the inhibitor chip he programmed wouldn't fail, and he didn't bother keeping any secrets from Viper. This means the rogue agent knew almost every single piece of information about Orlan. "But even you can't hack into them from down here. Hacking into the security network of a mercenary leader, especially one so good at computer, is nothing like going into the communication channel of a bar owner."

"What happens if I can get the security access code?" Jean wasn't moved.

Viper frowned. The security code could certainly help. "Only one person has the security code, and that person is in his fortress, behind a fleet. There's no way we can get to him."

"Not quite." Jean showed Viper something. It was the personal profile of a large man. Jean started to explain who the man was, but Viper, from her experience with Orlan, already knew who he is.

"Lieutenant Isaac. Orlan's second in command and, well, perhaps the most welcomed guest in Deadman's Port's most luxurious brothel, the Pleasure House."

"Where is he now?" Viper stood up violently. Someone as trained in the art of combat as she was knew what it meant.

"In his favorite place, probably with his favorite woman. One thing for sure, he is not behind a fleet and a sea of defenses. He will be much easier to get to than Orlan."

Viper sat back down, relaxing and thinking. "But he will still bring security. Orlan knows I'm rogue in the port. Even if he doesn't, someone as important as Isaacs will not just come to a place this dangerous alone. There's just two of us, seven if you count your guards. We can't take down Isaacs and get the code from him before reinforcements arrive."

Jean tapped her lips with her right hand. "What do you suggest?" She was able to continuously impress Viper because she did quite some research, but the fact was Viper was an elite ghost agent who personally participated in several times more missions than Jean had commanded. It would be wise to listen to her words.

Viper considered all the options. "Orlan's reinforcements can arrive in less than ten minutes. The best option is to instantly disable all means of communication. A modified EMP charge should be able to do that, but it's got to be at least one meter tall. There's no way we can sneak it into the middle of the defenses. If we can't disable all the guards at once, someone will be able to send out a request for help."

"So we need to find a way to bring the EMP inside the brothel without being noticed," Jean remembered something. "I've got that."

"What?"

"I can bring the EMP inside. Now, let's go over the plan again…."

As Jean spoke, Viper couldn't help but nod. This was going to be risky, and there was a part she didn't quite understand, but it would very likely be successful. This might be the best option possible.

As Jean finished, she found herself being scanned by the female ghost. The playful smirk on her face told Jean the ghost was enjoying this.

"Now, we just need to find a dress for you."


	30. Chapter 30

Brothels were one of the most profitable businesses in the port. Mercenaries dumped their money on women and alcohol, and a place that could provide the best women was surely profitable.

The Pleasure House was one of the brothels. Earning thousands of credits a day, it was only about to stay alive because Colonel Orlan offered protection. Otherwise, the brothel would be robbed by half its customers and the other half would leave without paying a single cent.

In return, Orlan's men received special treatment when they spent their time here. High ranking officers, like Isaacs, could get the best girl in town.

In one of the rooms in the building, Jean silently looked into a one man tall mirror.

She was wearing a red dress. It revealed most of the skin on her back and most of her arms, as well as some of her cleavage. In reality she had more skin revealed than not.

After all, she was posing as a girl who sleeps with people for money. She needed to make herself as attractive as possible.

"Impressive. If I'm Isaac I would be on top of you as soon as I see you." Viper joked through the earpiece Jean had on. She was looking at Jean through a security camera she managed to hack.

Maybe it was the aftereffect of the inhibitor chip, or maybe Viper was always a talkative girl and she was just showing it now because Jean was the first one she could really talk to, but Jean realized the ghost has been extremely flirty. She commented when Jean chose her dress. She commented when Jean changed. Now she was commenting on how she looks, and the ghost acted more like Jean's girlfriend than her partner.

"Are you ready?" Jean asked without getting even slightly annoyed. If anything she was planning on using Viper's potential feeling to her advantage.

"I'm monitoring the building you are in. As soon as the lights go out, I come in. I still don't understand where you put that EMP, by the way. Care to enlighten me?"

"No." Jean stretched her arms. "If that's it, I'll be taking off the earpiece. With any luck, we will see each other again in Isaac's bedroom."

"Well, have fun with Issacs. I'm sure he'll enjoy you." Jean might've heard a tiny fragment of jealously in Viper's voice.

Jean silently took off her earpiece and tapped her watch. After the earpiece disappeared, she quickly walked out of the room.

A short man walked up to her. He had a pistol by his side, but oddly he was dodging Jean's eyes.

"I will bring you to Lieutenant Isaacs. I've done my part. Tell your friend to stay away from me." He glanced at Jean and gulped when he saw her long legs and slant body, but he immediately looked backed down. It was as if he was too scared to even breathe heavily.

Jean knew Viper used threats on the brothel owner to convince him to bring her to where she needed to be. Ghosts were used to assassinate army commanders and destroy military targets. It was simply too much for a brothel owner to handle.

"Very well." The girl nodded and followed the man down a hallway. Two mercenary marines were standing guard at the other end, and they were just the first line of defenses.

"Hold up. You look fresh." One of the marines opened his helmet and said. He looked like he was just doing his job, but Jean suspected he had some alternate intentions.

"She's new." The brothel owner explained. He knew the woman behind him was up to no good, and he knew whatever she did would be connected to him, but he already made up his mind to get on a ship and leave this place ASAP. His bag was already packed and his credits were kept on him.

The marines didn't back down, so the shop owner pushed further.

"She's for Isaac."

The marines exchanged a look with each other and took a step back. The man grinned, satisfied, and walked past the marines. He might be a lamb in front of Viper and Jean, but he wouldn't hesitate to beat down on a marine. As Jean followed, she heard one of the marines whisper something.

"Bitch."

She kept on walking.

Behind the sentries was a hallway. Several lines of rooms were on the side, and Jean could hear the sound of men breathing and women gasping as she moved.

The shop owner reached a door that was behind the protection of over twenty marines. Something that looked like a sonar warbot, capable of detecting cloaked units, patrolled around the door. If Viper was to make a frontal assault, she would be instantly detected and potentially terminated. Even if VIper could come out on top, the guards on the outer perimeter could come to reinforce.

One of the marines standing guard was an officer. The man walked up to the officer and said something. As the man spoke, the officer looked at Jean and waved his hand. A marine, judging by her helmet she was female, walked up and ran her hands through every inch of Jean's dress.

She didn't find anything. Jean knew she would be searched, so she didn't have anything on her.

After a full examination, the marine stepped back and nodded at the officer, who waved his hand. Jean silently walked into the room.

After she entered, the guards closed the door. The brothel owner nodded at the captain and turned around and left. A thick layer of sweat covered the back of his neck.

The room Jean entered was large and comfortable. A large bed covered a large portion of the room. Two sofa lined along the wall. A line of drinks was on a table. But what truly attracted Jean's attention was a large man sitting on one of the sofas.

He looked at Jean and licked his lips. A satisfied grin found its way onto his face. He waved for Jean to come over. The girl complied and sat down beside him.

Isaacs slid his left arm into Jean's dress and started going down. He grinned even wider as he felt the soft skin under his fingers.

Jean smiled softly and moved her lips to his. As they kissed, she reached her hand behind the man, as if wanting to embrace him.

But one second that hand was empty, and the next second a taser appeared in her grip. Without a second of hesitation, she jabbed the taser into the back of the large man.

Isaacs' eyes widened and he struggled, but Jean held him tightly. He tried to call for help, but Jean's mouth covered his. The only sound that came out was a muffled groan, and considering this was a brothel, it was nothing strange.

As the man finally collapsed, Jean stood back up. The cute innocent smile on her face was nowhere to be seen. She tapped the watch on her wrist, and a one man tall silver device appeared on the ground in front of her.

Jean quickly tapped something on the EMP bomb and took a few steps back as the weapon went off.

With a hollow bang, a wave of blue energy exploded from the EMP device and spread outward with incredible speed.

The marines and sonar droids just outside of the suite were the first to fall victim. The warbots immediately fell over with their circuits fried. They would need some spare parts and a good engineer to be of use again.

Marines were biological units, but their armors had electronic parts, and those parts were gone as well. Radios were completely down. The power supplies shut down. Without the reactors, there was no way the marines could carry nearly a ton of metal all by themselves.

"What the hell? It's an EMP! How did it get in there?" The marine captain that ordered Jean to be searched cursed. He tried to break free, but the former protector was now a metal coffin. Without power, these men had no way of getting out of their armors. All they could do was stand there and hope some help could arrive before the oxygen in their armors run out.

As the twenty or so marines collapsed, the EMP shockwave continued extending outward. The customers of the brothel groaned as they realized the lights were out, but most of them simply returned to what they were doing. Their hormones washed over whatever logic they had.

On the outermost layer of defenses, the goliaths and the marines patrolled around. One of the marines realized something as he turned around and saw the shockwave approaching. He opened his mouth, as if wanting to shout a warning, but the layer of blue immediately washed over him, along with the rest of his comrades. Electronics sparked and bodies collapsed. None of the pilots or the marines were killed, but they would be down for quite a while.

Within just seconds, the entire brothel was disabled. Hundreds of marines and nearly a dozen goliaths went down. Every mean of communication was disabled. Orlan's men might realize something was wrong, but they would never get here in time.

Inside the room, Jean waited patiently.

"Ahh." At one point Isaacs woke up, only to earn another strike in his neck. Jean stored her taser inside her watch when the EMP was activated, so it was saved from the fate of being fried.

With a light tap, the door of the chamber was opened. Jean pointed her gauss pistol at the opening and lowered the weapon when she saw a familiar figure walking in.

"Wow." Viper eyed the unconscious men. She walked over to Isaacs and kicked him lightly. "He didn't do anything to you, did he?"

Jean rose her eyebrows. "Well, he did kiss me..." Before she could say anything else, Viper raised her left leg and kicked the unconscious man between his legs. Jean quietly turned away as the man screamed and sat up in pain.

Seeing the ghost, Isaacs raised his fist, as if moving out for a punch, but just before he could do anything Viper grabbed him by the neck and forced him to look into her eyes. The large man resisted, but without his armor he had no chance of overpowering a ghost operative.

 _"Obey me."_

Viper's psionic power washed over Isaac's mind and, after a few seconds of delay, made him her puppet.

Letting go of Isaacs, Viper knelt down and inhaled deeply. The thing she just did, domination, was extremely exhausting on her part. Thankfully mercenaries weren't exactly known for their willpower, and Isaacs was just knocked out twice and was suffering from utter pain, Otherwise, it would be even more difficult. Hybrids could permanently control armies at once, but ghosts could only dominate one person, and the process was tiring and risky.

That being said, dominating someone like Isaac was a good use of the ghost's psionic energy. The man's usage was far beyond simply being a source for security access code.

Jean walked up to Viper and gave her a hand. The ghost grinned and grabbed onto Jean's arm and got back up. Jean felt her tightly tapping in her palm before letting it go.

"Command me, sir." Isaacs stood back up, but this time he showed no sign of being hostile. Instead, he saluted in full obedience.

He was still the lieutenant that went into a brothel for women, but instead of being loyal to Orlan or himself, he now serves Viper with all his heart. Even if he was told to commit suicide he would do it without a second thought.

"Give her the security code." Viper ordered, and Isaacs gave Jean a series of numbers and alphabets. "Let's get out of here."

The three walked out of the door and through the hallway. The marines were still alive and they could see what was happening around them, but there was nothing they could do. Without control of their armor, they could barely move their rifles. Most of them had their helmets closed and their radios were down, so they couldn't even talk to each other.

Jean would've terminated all the eyewitnesses present, but she didn't have the time. One more second they spent on slaughtering the defenseless guards would mean one more second Orlan's men might have to realize something was wrong and prepare the defenses.

Plus, if everything went right, if Jean killed the guards, she would be killing her own underling.

Running out of the brothel, the three entered a transport that was prepared beforehand.


	31. Chapter 31

A dropship approached the space platform that belonged to Colonel Orlan.

It was immediately intercepted by a squad of fighters. Three wraiths forced the dropship to come to a full stop. Their missiles could be fired on a moment's notice.

"Identify yourself." One of the wraith pilots ordered through the comm.

Inside the ship, Viper nodded at Isaacs.

"This is Lieutenant Isaacs."

The leading wraith pilot immediately recognized that voice as the right hand man of the person that pays him.

"Yes sir. You're free to go."

Without much of a fuss, the dropship reached the space platform and landed at one of the landing zones. The three walked out of the transport. Several mercenaries were in their way, but none of them raised a question. Lieutenant Isaacs wasn't exactly the most patient person on the platform.

Plus, Viper was cloaked already. The presence of Jean wasn't that surprising considering Isaacs has brought other women to his house on the platform before.

Jean couldn't access Orlan's security network all the way from Deadman's Port. She needed to at least be on the platform to get in. The security access code helped, but ideally she needed an access point.

Normally that would be difficult, but thankfully Jean had an inside man.

Isaacs led Jean and Viper into one of the control towers. The two mercenary marines standing at outside the entrance ignored them.

As all three entered, Isaacs tapped a button next to the door. Immediately, the blast door of the control tower snapped shut.

The marines looked at each other. The blast door could withstand several minutes of firing of gauss rifles. Normally it was only closed when hostile forces were on the ground and potentially assaulting the towers. There was no reason for Isaacs to shut it now.

Still, they decided to step aside. Whatever Isaacs was doing this for, it wasn't their business. If he was doing it for a good reason, then they didn't need to do anything. If he was doing something he wasn't supposed to do, well, it wouldn't bother them. Even if Isaac was betraying Colonel Orlan, he wouldn't massacre the common soldiers.

There was no reason to needlessly risk their lives, especially when there was no reward.

"Sir," The five officers in the main control room stood up and saluted, but the next second both Isaacs and Jean, simultaneous and without a word, drew their blades. Isaac slit the throat of one of the officers. Jean slit the throat of another and stabbed a second in the chest. The fourth backed off and reached for his radio, but the next second a plasma blade came out of nowhere and stabbed him through the neck, almost decapitating him.

"What the…Please..." The fifth man knelt down on his knees and begged. "I'll do whatever you want…"

He never finished that sentence.

"Isaacs, secure the exit. I'll clean out the tower." Viper said in the comm before walking through a door connecting the main control room to the rest of the tower. There were dozens of people in this building, and if they were to work undisturbed they needed to take out anyone that might warn the mercenaries of their presence. There was no one better at killing quietly than a ghost.

Resting the bloodstained blade on one of the tables, Jean went to one of the computers and started working.

* * *

In one of the mercenary battlecruisers, the captain of the ship was called over by one of his crew members.

"Sir, we have received orders to lift off into the air ASAP."

The captain frowned. "Is there any hostile presence?"

"No, sir."

"Well, orders are order. All crew enter battle position. Bring the ship into the air on my command."

The entire mercenary fleet received the order from the security network to lift off. Most of them was confused, but they didn't find a reason to refuse the order.

None of them was suspicious of the source of the command.

As the mercenary fleet got into the air, the captains suddenly received a rather unpleasant notification.

"Sir, I think…"

"What is it, soldier?"

"I think we have been locked onto by the platform's orbital defenses."

Inside the control tower, Jean handed a comm to Isaac.

"All ships maintain your current position. Turn off your shields and bring your warp drives offline." The lieutenant ordered through the comm.

Jean couldn't directly take over control of the battlecruisers. After all, they had human pilots and human crew members. One false move and the captain could simply turn to manual control and everything would be fine.

However, she could open up a direct channel to all the ships.

All thirty two battlecruisers were in the air. Each of them carried several dozens of vikings, wraiths, and tac fighters. Each and every one of them was armed with defensive matrix, Yamato cannon, missile pods, and hundreds of laser batteries. One of them even carried a tactical nuke. Every battlecruiser held a hundred security troopers.

If the battlecruisers had an opportunity to use all the tricks they've got, they could take down the orbital defenses with some losses.

Unfortunately, the battlecruisers were taken by surprise. The fighters they carried were still in the hangers. Infantry security forces were not even cannon fodders in this circumstance. They were merely fireworks.

Yamato cannons needed time to be charged. Defensive matrix needed a few seconds to be armed. Missile pods were for anti-air purposes.

Normally this shouldn't be a problem, but in this case every move the battlecruisers made was under the watch of Jean. The captains knew if they ordered their Yamato cannons to be charged or their defensive matrixes to be armed, the orbital defenses would open fire instantly. Already armed and loaded, the Drakken Pulse cannons and missile turrets could fire much quicker than the battlecruisers.

It would be a massacre. The battlecruisers had tough armors, but tougher armors meant larger targets.

If it was the Dominion Fleet they would've went for it and either take back the port or die trying, but Orlan's men didn't have the loyalty toward their leader to put their lives at risk.

And so the entirety of the mercenary fleet parked in the air and did nothing as the undertaking occurred.

"What the hell is going on?" Behind layers of neosteel armor of a planetary fortress, Colonel Orlan groaned. His fleet got into the air without him knowing. Hell, the first hint he got that told him his fleet was not on the platform was by an accidental glance through the window.

Just that was bad enough, but now it turned out that his orbital defenses were compromised as well. All the Drakhen Cannons and missile turrets he implanted were turned against him.

He didn't even know who his enemy was.

He immediately turned back to his officers.

"Mobilize all units! Activate the mech! Contact the fleet! Get me a computer!"

But the fact was Orlan's orders couldn't even be passed out of the planetary fortress. Jean hacked the communication channel and shut Orlan out, completely taking out the command structure of the mercenary forces.

Without an order from above, most of the mercenaries didn't even know they were under attack.

"Activating all warbots now." Jean's finger jumped from key to key, and every single warbot, whether it was ARES, eradicators, or sentry bots.

As soon as the order was given, all the warbots on the platform, activated or not, started moving toward the main planetary fortress.

"What the hell?" One of the mercenary marines groaned as a sentry bot on patrol duty abandoned its post and marched inside. "What's wrong with that tin can?"

His partner shrugged. "It's probably some technical problem. It's none of our business."

The first marine nodded and returned to his position.

"Colonel Orlan keeps a large army next to his fortress. The warbots may be enough to break through, but it will take time. If we engage in a full front battle, the majority of Orlan's ground forces will realize something's off."

Isaacs explained. Jean's plan required a lightning strike on Orlan before anyone else have a chance to respond. Right now she was only able to gain an upper hand because she took the fleet by surprise. In reality she had no way of dealing with the couple thousand infantry forces Orlan had. She had several hundred warbots, but they weren't enough.

"Perhaps." Jean tapped a few keys and opened up the communication to the officer commanding the defenders outside the planetary fortress.

"Commander Joseph." She glanced at one of the security cameras in the planetary fortress. After realizing Jean blocked out the communication with the rest of his army, Orlan did things the old fashioned way: He sent out a couple messengers. Unfortunately, the messengers never made it out the gate as Jean overrode the control of the fortress and sealed the door.

The officers were manually overriding the control, but it took time.

"Who is this?" The commander on sight quickly replied.

"This is Lieutenant Cassidy. I am delivering an order from Colonel Orlan." Jean throw out a random name. She was fairly sure the commander didn't memorize the name of every single officer in the army. "An army of warbots is approaching your location. You are to bring your forces back to Barrack C and ignore anything that happens at the planetary fortress."

Joseph's mind turned at this obviously odd order. Anyone would imagine something strange going on, but his thoughts went to the direction opposite of the correct one.

Both Orlan and Isaacs knew the full security access code, but Orlan was the master of encryption and decryption. Joseph knew Isaacs. The only things that idiot knew was sleeping with woman and sending soldiers to their graves. Hacking was not one of his skills.

Therefore, the warbots were here by the orders of Orlan. It can be inferred that so was this female officer that gave him this order. Now that he thought about it, the strange action of the fleet, lifting off and stopping above the platform, might also be the work of his leader.

But why would Orlan do that? Why would he trap all his human forces and summon his army of AI machines? The answer was simple: He wanted to do something he only trusted the programmed machines to complete.

Perhaps he was unsatisfied with the current command structure of Orlan's mercenaries. Perhaps he wanted to execute several important officers that he felt like were threatening his rule. If that was the case, it would explain everything. Human soldiers might have affiliations were certain officers or commanders, but machines were under the command of Orlan and Orlan alone.

Thinking he understood the entire situation, Joseph understood what he had to do. If he stayed here with his men, or even if he just asked questions, he might be considered as a potential threat to Orlan. That way, he might've found himself a place on Orlan's execution list.

"Orders comply. My men are moving out immediately."

Turning off the comm, commander Joseph turned to the inner comm and passed down an order.

"Wow, that was easy." Viper, who has executed every single mercenary inside the control tower, returned to the main room just in time to hear Joseph's reply.

Jean didn't know why the commander trusted her order so easily, but she didn't have a problem with that.

* * *

"Where are all the guards?" After a few minutes, the planetary fortress was finally returned to Orlan's control. One of the mercenary officers given the job as a messenger walked out of the door and was more than surprised to realize the area that should be heavily defended was empty. There wasn't a trace of the near hundred marines or the half a dozen siege tanks left.

No one had an answer, and the officer decided to temporarily drop the confusion and do his job. He turned toward one of the ten major barracks on the platform. It should hold a couple hundred marines, marauders, and medics. As long as he could get there, he could deliver Orlan's orders and bring these men to secure the planetary fortress.

The sound of engines rolling suddenly caught his attention. The officer turned with a relieved grin on his face. From what he could see, with the fleet in the air, the only mechanical units on the ground were friendlies.

The sound of defender cannons of sentry bots told him he was wrong.

"Incoming! It's the bots! They're attacking us!" Seeing the officer get ripped open by a series of cannon rounds, one of the officers still inside the planetary fortress shouted.

Chaos immediately erupted. The men and women inside were officers, but they were mercenaries as well. Being stuck in a fortress by hundreds of machines that just so ruthlessly executed one of their own was more than what they could handle. They didn't have the willpower Dominion and Raider soldiers had to face death with a calm face.

"Shut up!" Orlan didn't climb to the position of one of the most powerful mercenary commanders for nothing. Instead of being overwhelmed by shock or fear, he went to command.

"Shut the door! Planetary fortress open fire on the rogue bots! If we can make enough noise, the fleet and the army will come to reinforce. Those warbots will be no match for the guns of our ships!" Noticing several men were still frightened, Orlan pushed on. "This fortress is equipped with enhanced building armor! They can't get through!" He was almost shouting at the end. He was not only convincing his men but also himself.

Outside, hundreds of warbots scattered out and opened fire. Sentry bots made up most of the warbots present. Their defender cannons were ineffective, but they did have the numbers to make it up. The ARES had three armaments. Napalm burninators and T-82 missile pods were less effective, but the 120 mm cannons had quite the punch. Even though there were only seven ARES, which meant 14 120 mm cannons, they still did more than the hundreds of sentry bots.

The eradicators were the result of Kel-Morian attempt to copy Umojan sentry bots. They had tougher armor and enhanced weapons, but they also cost a lot. That was why Orlan felt like punching someone when he saw these bots, purchased by his own money, were pointing their guns toward him.

The Ibiks cannon of the planetary fortress opened fire. Sentry bots were taken down in one single shots. Eradicators and ARES took a few more shots, but they fell nonetheless. Within just thirty seconds, 7 sentry bots, 2 ARES, and 3 eradicators were in pieces.

"The fortress is holding. The mercenary infantry already found out something's wrong. I don't know why they're not sending out teams, but we need to end this quickly." Viper groaned as she tapped the keys on another computer. She wasn't as good as hacking compared to Jean, but as a ghost operative she was quite capable with the computer as well.

Neither Jean nor Viper knew that after commander Joseph returned to the barracks, he went on a conference with the rest of the army commanders and told them his suspicions. He didn't give a damn about the wellbeing of the other commanders, but if those commanders did the wrong move and made themselves the enemies of Orlan, then Orlan would want to deal with them as well. There would be battle, and battle meant death. Joseph didn't want to take the risk.

His completely off deduction helped Jean and Viper more than any of them imagined.

Jean didn't respond. Instead, she directed all the warbots to focus fire on one single position of the fortress: the door. The door was sealed off in time, but it was relatively fragile compared to the rest of the fortress.

Cannon rounds were exchanged. Building armor was weakened. Warbots were turned to wreckage.

One of the ARES took a shot in the front plating. The warbot shook violently and was knocked back a few steps, but it quickly recovered and fired two 120 mm cannon rounds at the gate.

As if it was the last straw, the door could no longer hold. With a loud bang, the layers of metal fell back into the fortress itself, leaving an opening in the armor of the building.

"Where the f**k are my men?" The colonel was no longer as calm as he was ten minutes before. He thought reinforcement could be here much before the defenses fell, but now it was obviously impossible. He had no idea why things were like this, but that wasn't important anymore.

A few officers desperately drew their weapons on the warbots, but they were immediately gunned down.

Blood, along with other things, stained the ground.

"I surrender, god damn it!" Orlan and most of his men did what any mercenary would do. They held their hands up and surrendered.

To these mercenaries, no amount of loyalty or honor or pride was enough to make them sacrifice their lives.

The warbots didn't stop...After all, Jean needed Orlan dead.


	32. Chapter 32

Jean walked into the bridge of the Hyperion.

After colonel Orlan, along with half the mercenary High Command, died a terrible death at the guns of an army of warbots, Orlan's mercenaries almost fell into pieces. Several high level commanders, each holding a group of forces or ships, wanted the entire mercenary Corps for themselves.

That was until Isaac came in and announced he would be the next commander. Orlan's mercenaries would become Isaac's mercenaries.

Obviously, almost all of the commanders disagreed. Isaac controlled the orbital defenses and the warbots, but other high ranking officers had far more units. Some of the commanders ignored Isaac while others wanted his head on a spike to show their strength.

That was until six of the most powerful commanders were found dead in their fortress. Viper couldn't take down Orlan before because he was on an orbital platform protected by an entire fleet, a set of orbital defenses, and an entire army.

But now that the orbital defenses were gone and the soldiers were no longer coordinated because they were divided into nearly a dozen smaller groups, the ghost could easily find her way to the side of the commanders and put her blade through their neck.

The message the ghost sent was obvious. Anyone strong enough to challenge Isaac lost his head. Literally.

Most of the commanders that were left went to Isaac at once and pledged their allegiance. The forces whose leaders were assassinated yielded as well. No one dare take the place of the fallen and keep standing up against Orlan. Who knows when the deadly assassin would strike again.

But there was an exception. Whether he was powered by greed or anger or something else, one of the commanders decided to take the risk. He led his army toward Isaac's fortress, attempting to take him by surprise.

Turned out that commander was the one taken by surprise. When a sniper round came from a distance away and blasted his head open, he still didn't realize what happened.

In the end, Isaac, or rather Viper/Jean, found himself with thirty battlecruisers, hundreds of fighters of all sorts, hundreds of warbots, and four thousand ground units. Compared to the army, the tens of thousands of credits Orlan kept in his bank was just a small treat.

That was great, but the matters with the Hyperion were finished, and Jean was needed back on the ship. After a rather heated farewell with Viper hopped on a dropship and retreated back into the Hyperion.

As soon as she could, the girl found her way into the bridge.

"Jean. You're back." Raynor looked up and smiled at his most trusted lieutenant. "How's the port?"

Jean licked her lips and tasted a foreign scent. "Relaxing." Whether she was talking about the port itself or someone in the port was unknown.

Raynor rose his eyebrows. He has been to Deadman's Port dozens of times, and even someone as tough as he wouldn't describe the home of mercenaries and criminals to be relaxing. Still, he quickly left that matter behind as he saw Horner walking up to him.

"Sir, all the equipment and units are in place. We are good to go." The captain nodded at Jean with a slight smile.

"But where to?"

Jean asked, but suddenly the door of the bridge snapped open. The heavy footsteps notified almost everyone who the newcomer was.

"Ya know, you're lucky to have me." Tychus seemed even ruder than before, a fact that Horner didn't know was possible.

Realizing he attracted all the attention, the man paused, satisfied to see everyone looking at him for an answer. "Remember when I held my ground when negotiating with the Moebius boys?"

"You mean the time that you annoyed one of our richest customers with a high price?" Horner shrugged. "How can we forget?"

"Well, it turns out you're not as smart as you look." Tychus smirked. "The Moebius Foundation just contacted me. They offered us 250,000 credits for another artifact mission."

"Wow," Raynor was slightly taken back. 250,000 credits could buy a lot of things. A siege tank was just 500 minerals. The exchange rate between minerals and credits, the last time Raynor checked, was one to five. 250,000 credits meant 50,000 minerals.

That was 100 siege tanks.

Raynor remembered seeing a mercenary modified Minotaur class battlecruiser being sold to someone for around 50,000 minerals.

"What's so precious about these artifacts, anyways." But the experienced veteran wasn't knocked out by the large paycheck. Just like with Tosh, he was growing suspicious about the amount of money the Moebius were willing to spend. They were pretty much exchanging a battlecruiser for one of the many pieces of the artifact.

Battlecruisers weren't cheap. In some distant planets a single battlecruiser could put down any challenge. Mira Han dominated Deadman's Port with just thirty battlecruisers.

Plus, the Queen of Blades was also after the artifact and the Tal'darim protoss were guarding them. Why is that piece of glowing rock so important?

"Don't know. Don't care." Tychus shrugged. Raynor wasn't surprised. In fact, if Tychus really know anything, Raynor would think he lost his mind or something. The man was never a fan of using his brain.

Nonetheless, the Raiders went on their way. The Hyperion jumped to the coordinates Tychus received from the Moebius Foundation.

As the ship exited warp space and the planet Xil was in sight, Jean remembered something and turned to Tychus. "Why did the Moebius suddenly came to us?"

"From what I heard they sent out a specialized team. Over two hundred mercenaries with a squad of vikings and a couple siege tanks as support." Tychus tapped his cigarette. "The last time they reported back was after they first landed on the planet and set up the drills. After that, dead silence. I say they're very dead by now."

"But who could've taken out a specialized strike team so quickly they didn't even have the time to send out a distress signal?" Raynor started thinking, but turned out thinking was overrated as a transmission request came in.

Matt patched it through.

"More terran thieves!"

Hearing the obviously alien voice, Raynor wanted to cover his face. He knew something with this high of a reward wouldn't be easy, but he really didn't want to deal with the Tal'darim.

The first, and last, time he saw the Tal'darim was on Monlyth. They were facing an army large enough to make the best of the Dominion Fleet turn and flee, but instead they held their ground and took down countless zerg in the process. Sure, they handed him their piece of artifact the last time, but Raynor doubted it would be the same here.

"More…I guess we know what happened to the first team." Horner stated the obvious.

"I am Executor Nyon, the Sixth Ascendant of the Tal'darim. You are here for the artifact."

"Ahh...yeah." Raynor didn't see where the Tal'darim was going.

"By all means, come down here." Nyon welcomed. "We will gladly sacrifice you all to our god." He backed off and turned the camera and revealed a line of prisoners behind him. They were all captured terran, personable survivors of the mercenary team the Moebius sent here. Raynor counted 12 of them. They were surrounded by hundreds of Tal'darim.

The next second all 12 heads fell down on the ground. There wasn't any zealot attacking. It was as if they were severed by an invisible blade.

Twelve bodies collapsed as blood shot out. The Tal'darim around the dead cheered as they bathed in the blood of their enemies. Literally and figuratively.

Nyon's face returned to the computer screen. "They have desecrated the work of god just by setting their worthless eyes on his work. And now you will suffer the same fate."

Without wasting another second, Raynor immediately turned around to Horner. "Prepare warp drive now. We can't fight the Tal'darim." Despite witnessing a massacre, Raynor was extremely logical. He saw hundreds of Tal'darim around the execution, and there was no telling how many protoss there were on the entire planet. Even if they didn't have a fleet, which was unlikely, the Raiders didn't have the manpower to break through their ground forces. The Hyperion was powerful, but Raynor wouldn't wager the life of every Raider aboard for a few thousand minerals.

They needed to pull back and regroup.

Matt nodded, understanding the situation as well. Tychus was slightly unsatisfied. He was willing to take the risk, but he wasn't the commander.

Jean agreed with Raynor. She wasn't scared, but striking now wasn't ideal. It would be better for her to pull back, do some more missions and build up her army, and return here again with a large army and something like a fleet.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.

The ear piercing sound of alarm suddenly rang across the bridge.

"Report!" Horner quickly demanded with a scent of fear in his voice. Training couldn't make him completely emotionless.

"Main warp drive is disabled!" The crew member replied with equal fear. "We can't jump!"

Horner almost collapsed. How did that happen? The main warp drive was the primary tool the Hyperion used to travel through the sector. Without the ability to jump, it would take the Hyperion years to get from where they were to Deadman's Port. The Hyperion had several smaller warp drives, but they were used for short ranged jumps only.

If any hostile flyer approached the ship, then the adjutant would certainly warn him.

"Destroyed?" He asked with a sense of hope.

"Ahh...not quite." The crew member turned around and saw the enraged look on the captain. He quickly explained. "Scanners show it's been disabled by a red energy. It's nothing like what we've seen before, but it appears that the containment is gradually decreasing. At this rate, the warp drive will be back online in a few hours."

"That's good, right?" Raynor took a slight breath of relief.

"I'm afraid that was just the first step, sir." Jean, who was looking out the window, turned around.

"Tal'darim ships incoming."

Behind her and outside the window, a line of crimson vessel approached.

* * *

"All crew members enter battle position. Bring all weapon and defensive system online." Now understanding there was no escape, Horner went into action. "As long as we all do our jobs, we will get out of this alive!"

The entire ship immediately went into action. Infantry soldiers went into their armors and patrolled around the ship, ready for any sign of enemies boarding the ship. Crew members ran to their positions. Their backs were stained wet from sweat, but they were trying to be as professional as possible. They knew if they made a mistake out of fear, they might just endanger everyone on the ship.

"Sir," Jean walked up to Raynor. "might I suggest something?"

"Make it quick."

"If we stay back and wait for the warp drive to come online, the Tal'darim will board this ship. Their warping machines means they can easily overwhelm us. Our mech will be useless in these hallways. Our infantry can't focus fire. The Tal'darim zealots will rip our men apart."

"What do you suggest?"

"We engage the Tal'darim in a battlefield beneficial for us." Jean said confidently. "We send our ground forces and land on Xil."

"Are you out of your mind?" Raynor frowned. "We can barely hold them off and defend the place. Are you suggesting we attack?" He would've screamed at her if he just met her, but after all the crazy plans, all of them working, Raynor felt like Jean deserved much more trust from him.

"I am suggesting we defend, but at somewhere else." Jean dragged Raynor to one of the computer screens. She did an orbital scan on the abandoned Moebius position. "There."

The Moebius position was overran. Severed bodies, shattered armors, and used bullet shells covered the ground. A few abandoned buildings were, surprisingly, left standing. In fact, Jean even saw a few siege tanks. The bunkers and siege tanks were all abandoned. At least one side of them was cut through by what seemed like a psionic blade.

The pilots and officers inside the buildings and siege tanks were obviously dragged out and slaughtered, but, whether it was to use as trophies or what, the Tal'darim kept the remaining terran tools there. That might open up an opportunity for the Raiders to commandeer them.

The Moebius position was also a great defensive position. Two ramps were connected to a large plateau, and those ramps were the only way for ground units to go up. If Jean could seal those entrances, she had some chance of holding off the Tal'darim long enough for the Hyperion's warp drive to come back online.

As long as she could drag most of the Tal'darim ground units at the planet, there wouldn't be as much protoss assaulting the Hyperion from the inside.

As Jean explained her plan, Raynor finally nodded and gave the order.


	33. Chapter 33

On the planet of Xil, a certain Tal'darim executor grinned as the comm with the Raiders was shut down.

Turning around, he waved his hand, and a dozen zealots went to grab onto the bodies of the executed prisoners. These bodies would be put on spikes and left all around the planet for the same reason the Tal'darim kept the terran buildings and siege tanks intact: As trophies.

"My master," Another comm was opened up. Nyon turned around and found himself looking at one of his underlings via a screen.

"What is it?" Nyon recognized the Tal'darim to be one of the blood hunters he sent out on a special mission. The fact that he is calling him now meant his mission was successful. If his mission failed, he wouldn't be alive enough to return to report.

Blood hunters were Tal'darim trained in covert combat. They were like the Tal'darim dark templars and were experts in infiltration and assassination, except they were much more ruthless. Rare yet powerful, they usually pledged their allegiance to either the Highlord or the top ascendants. As the Sixth Ascendant, Nyon had quite a few blood hunters under his command. They come in handy in certain circumstances. This was one of such circumstances.

"The warp drive of the terran battlecruiser has been disabled. If we strike now, the terran will have no choice but to stand and fight." The blood hunter smirked. He could already see the sight of the terran vessel burning and its occupants screaming and dying. "And we will slaughter every single one of them. Their blood shall paint our floor." That was more of a statement than a war cry.

Nyon grinned. As much as he enjoyed it, he didn't call the terran battlecruiser to taunt them, at least not entirely. After hearing report of terran presence, he immediately sent out three cloaked corsairs with blood hunters inside. Only after that did he send a transmission to Raynor and do all he could to attract his attention, whether it was by introducing himself or by executing the prisoners.

Meanwhile, the dozen or so blood hunters in the corsairs focused their void energy and constructed a void stasis upon the ship's warp drive. The drive was completely intact, but it was disabled for the time being. It would be a while until it could work again, and with any luck when the warp drives comes back online, the ship was already in pieces.

Nyon didn't climb to where he was by raw strength. Sure, his psionic power and ruthlessness helped a lot, but he wasn't terrible on the tactics either. He counted on the terran commander talking to him, which meant his ship would stay still, and he used that to his advantage. The cloaking field over the corsairs allowed the blood hunters to get close enough to act. Battlecruisers had detectors, but most of these detectors were expensive and couldn't cover the entire ship and weren't turned on all the time. Nyon decided to give it a try, and it worked.

As for why he wanted to destroy all the terran thieves instead of just ward him off, well, that had something to do with the Tal'darim society.

Nyon was in charge of protecting the Xel'naga Keystone artifacts. It was an honor, but if he lost the fragments, it would be a huge problem.

The battle of Monylth and the loss of the first fragment already put Nyon over some heat. Sure, Kerrigan's fleet greatly outnumbered the defenders, but no one, neither Highlord Ma'lash nor a zealot of the lowest rank, cared about listening to excuses. All they knew was that Nyon lost a piece of artifact entrusted to him by god.

That was simply bad. In the Tal'darim society, weakness meant death, and not being able to protect the work of god was certainly a sign of weakness.

In the end, Nyon was able to place the blame on the two ascendants on Monlyth. After all, he wasn't there in battle. But he knew very well if he lost another piece of the artifact, he would really be in trouble.

Now, a wiser commander like Jean would've pulled all the artifacts back behind the control of the Death Fleet and protect it with every ship she had, but Nyon knew, whatever tactical reason he had, he would be fleeing from a battle without even fighting. It would be even worse than being defeated in battle. If he gave that order, then half of his army and fleet would abandon him in search of a stronger leader. The Tal'darim wouldn't give their lives for a coward.

The Sixth Ascendant knew he had no choice but to protect the artifact fragments by spreading out his forces. Nyon had around 80 capital ships under his command, but there were a lot of places he needed to protect.

Just the four pieces of artifacts were located on four distant planets. He also owned over thirty planets. Each of them provided resources, living space, and occasionally terrazine for his forces, but they also required some protection from jealous eyes both from inside and from outside. He also needed to leave some ships in his palace on Slayn to prevent the other ascendants from doing something behind his back.

In the end, each Keystone fragment received 12 capital ships, including 4 carriers and 8 destroyers.

The artifact on Xil was the furthest from Tal'darim High Command, so Nyon personally led his supplicant army to construct the defenses there.

If this single battlecruiser could make it out alive, then, first of all, it would be a slap to the face for Nyon. Second, this ship would tell whoever hired it what happened and quickly return with a much larger fleet.

Nyon wouldn't scared of a fight, but it would be a pointless fight in which he could gain nothing from. He would be losing ships and warriors for nothing. Less ships meant less power. Less power might mean defeat and death.

"Ascendant Falgal." Tossing the thoughts behind, Nyon made connection with the ascendant commanding the fleet. "Move in and kill everyone on that ship. The terran set their eyes on god's creation, and they shall pay the price with their blood."

"As you wish, my master." Inside one of the carriers, ascendant Falgal held her right arm in front of her chest, saluting, before giving command.

Suddenly, one of the supplicant zealots walked up to Nyon.

"My master, terran forces are approaching the planet." He sounded surprised. His mind might be clouded with the need to torture, maim, and kill, but he was intelligent enough to know only fools would attempt to land on a planet defended by a much stronger army. "They are heading for the compound the first group of terran thieves brought."

"What?" Nyon frowned as well. "Doesn't matter. Order the fleet to press the attack. Bring a squad of phoenixes here and cut off the escape route of the terran."

The zealot waited there for a few seconds, as if not sure if Nyon was done. As Nyon gave him a confused gaze, the zealot finally made the decision to do something that he shouldn't have done. "Shall we send some warriors to the compound? We can slaughter any terran that touches the ground."

Nyon smirked, and the zealot felt like there was a giant rock on his chest. His head immediately bowed down. Nyon glanced at him for a while before finally enlightening the warrior.

"Idiot! If we massacre the first group terran, then the rest will simply turn and run. Terran dropships might be equipped with warp drives. If they flee and our phoenixes aren't in place, then some terran might return to their homeworld. They will return with an entire fleet. We need to make them feel like they have a chance. When the phoenixes arrive, we can press the attack and execute every single one of them."

"We don't fear the presence of an enemy fleet. If they come, we will kill them all!"

Nyon sighed. "Just deliver the order." He should've known it was a bad idea to teach a brute to think.

* * *

Meanwhile, dozens of dropships and nearly a dozen vikings moved toward the mercenary compound on Xil with full speed.

After the battle plan was made, Raynor, Horner, and half the Mar Saran elites were left on the Hyperion. The lone battlecruiser couldn't take the Tal'darim fleet head on, and it didn't need to. The ship's job was to kite the Tal'darim ships as long as possible and keep them from slamming down on the Raider ground forces and obliterating them. The Mar Sran marines were there in case the Tal'darim somehow got a few boarding parties on the ship.

Jean and most of the Raider ground forces, including the mercenaries, the Warden units, the mechanical units, and half the Mar Saran units, would land on Xil and construct a defensive position. They would be severely outnumbered and outgunned, but they did have a defensive position.

It wouldn't be easy, but it was necessary. If the Tal'darim had the manpower to board the ship, the Raiders would be massacred. The Hyperion would be taken down from the inside.

In one of the dropships, Jean, the reaper captain, and six other reaper guards waited for the ship to land.

"Sir," One of the reapers suddenly spoke up hesitantly. He was looking at Jean.

"Yes?"

"Are we really going to do this?"

Jean opened her eyes and looked at the reaper. Her eyes were ice cold, as if waiting for an explanation.

"There are hundreds of us, but there are at least thousands of Tal'darim down there. Each protoss can take down at least ten of us. We will be slaughtered down there!" The soldier tried to be polite at first, but as he spoke he slowly lost control. "I didn't sign up on a suicide mission!"

The man was a mercenary. He was fine with taking some risks, but charging into certain death wasn't part of his plan. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one. The vast majority of the landing party weren't mentally prepared for the battle before them. Already dissent was rising among the ranks.

Jean wasn't surprised. Not every Raider was a programmed killing machine.

Time for a pep talk.

"Adjutant, open up a communication channel with everyone on this mission."

"Affirmative." The adjutant, connected to Jean's armor via a radio, replied.

Immediately, the radio of every single Raider combatant was turned on. Everyone could hear what Jean says.

"All Raider units on this channel, listen to me!" Jean announced loudly.

Bickering mercenaries gradually quieted down. Shaking militias found a way to distract themselves. Dropship and viking pilots diverted some attention away from piloting and onto listening. The only units unmoved were the Warden units.

"Some of you may have heard about what is happening. Some of you may be wondering why we are heading toward a planet full of aliens that want us dead. Well, I'm going to tell you everything."

"We have been stuck in a dire situation. We are being attacked by twelve Tal'darim ships, each of them filled with protoss zealots ready to rip us apart and feast on our blood. Our only way out, the Hyperion, has temporarily lost its power to jump. It will take time for the warp drive to come back online."

"But time is something we don't have. If we sit behind and do nothing, when the warp drives come back online, we would have already been reduced to piles of flesh aimlessly floating in the vacuum of space. Either that, or we would be captured, tortured, and slaughtered by the Tal'darim."

"I don't know about you, but I don't want to see that happen, so I'm going to do everything I can to stop it."

"Our mission is to land on the planet below and establish a defensive position. The Tal'darim will come at us with all they've got, but if we can seal the entire place down with bunkers, siege tanks, and commander centers, the Tal'darim will be walking into a slaughterhouse. Even if they don't attack into our fortress, our presence itself is enough to pin most of the protoss ground forces here."

"If the Tal'darim are here, then they aren't boarding the ship, and without a large amount of boarding party, the Tal'darim can't get past the defenses on the ship. As long as the Hyperion stands, we still have a way out."

"We still have hope."

"Will we get out of this alive?" The reaper guard that first questioned Jean asked.

Jean turned and looked the man in the eye. "I don't know." She whispered. "But I can promise you one thing."

"Whether you live or die, you will not do it alone."

"Trust each other! Rely on each other! Every one of us will be fighting side by side! Together, we will survive!"

The radio went silent for a while. Suddenly, the pilot of the dropship Jean was in turned around.

"ETA one minute, sir."

Jean nodded.


	34. Chapter 34

The dropships landed in the mercenary position. Nearly four hundred Raiders poured out.

Jean walked out of one of the dropships. She was in her white armor. In this situation, every combatant was needed. A squad of reaper guards stood behind her.

"SCVs, construct bunkers at the entrances." Jean pointed at the two ramps that lead up to the plateau. She brought almost all of the mineral storage from the Hyperion. They could quickly be turned into defensive structures. The dozen or so SCVs that came down with her immediately went into action.

"Men, check out the buildings and the siege tanks." The Tal'darim killed all the mercenaries, but they left some of their buildings and vehicles as trophies. Those arrogant protoss never thought there would be another group of terran that would land on the planet, and this gave Jean a chance to turn those trophies into weapons.

Several marines who had experience with mech before jumped into the siege tanks and checked them out. Some SCVs inspected a few bunkers with the side facing the protoss cut open.

They quickly reported back. The efficiency of men in distress was astonishing.

"Sir, most of the siege tanks are useless, but three are still functional. The drivers are mincemeat, but if we can get someone inside and repair the fractures..."

Jean nodded and waved. The marine reporting backed off, and several marines got out of their armors and entered the vehicles. Seconds later the turrets of the tanks started turning toward the hostile direction.

One of the SCVs rolled up.

"Sir, most of the bunkers are still standing. We can repair them but it will take some minerals…"

"Grab whatever you need and get to work. We don't have much time." Jean hurried, and the SCV backed off and rushed into action.

Jean turned back to the reapers and silently switched to a communication channel to the entire army. She wanted everyone to hear what she was about to say. "Captain, turn off the engines of all the dropships. No one is going anywhere." Her soft words were ice cold.

"Sir…" The reaper captain frowned. "It's better if we give ourselves a way out. It's safer..."

"Follow your orders, captain." Jean pushed on. She had very little consideration of the safety of her or her men.

The reaper captain remained there for a few seconds. She could see the reapers resting their hands on their weapons. After all, they were more loyal to the captain that fought with them for countless battles than to a random girl who paid them. Unfortunately, Jean had her own devoted supporters as well. Around the reapers, the blue T helmet of the Warden marines shined.

Other Raider units stood by in confusion. Jean stood tall and looked at the large man in front of her with her beautiful eyes.

As the standoff continued, the reaper captain's mind turned faster than the engine of the dropships. Carrying out the order would be risky. If they were to be overrun, every last one of the Raiders would be slaughtered with no chance of escape. However, unlike the common foot soldiers, the captain understood why Jean gave that order. Even if they could get on the dropships and get into the air, they would be chased down by the protoss fighters. The end would be the same.

In that case, why not cut off the chance of escape and make sure every single mercenary hold their ground until the very end? To a degree the reaper captain was really impressed by Jean's decisiveness. The girl was an officer, but she had the guts to do things most mercenaries would hesitate to do. Putting himself in her shoes, the reaper captain knew he would have abandoned the Hyperion and escaped in one of those dropships armed with a warp drive.

As practically everyone in the field looked at him, the reaper captain knew this wasn't the time to be impressed. He quickly considered his options. If he wanted to run, he could gun down Jean to create some chaos and hope he could get on one of the dropships and jump away before Tal'darim fighters chase him down. That wasn't the hard part. The hard part was what he would do after that.

He has seen a small part of Jean and Viper's operation against Orlan. After becoming the woman behind the curtain of Orlan's, wait, Isaac's mercenaries, Viper held quite the power in Deadman's Port. She knew his face, and if he returned and Jean didn't…the ghost assassin wouldn't be too satisfied.

Finally, the captain made up his mind. Even apart from the principle of a mercenary to obey the person that pays him, his chances of survival was much larger if he obeyed Jean's orders.

"Yes sir."

Jean smiled warmly, and all the Warden units went to mind their own business. The rest of the Raiders returned to their positions as well. They had no idea how close they were to being part of a crossfire between mercenary reapers and Warden marines.

There was a reason Jean was risking making a squad of elite reapers her enemy. The pep talk she did would've had quite the effect on the original Raiders and perhaps the militias, but the mercenaries were different. They were too ruthless and too experienced to sacrifice their lives just because a girl said a few encouraging lines.

Right now they might do their jobs, but if things went wrong, then eventually some of the mercenaries would choose their own lives over either money or principle. Maybe it was just a few cowards first, but a few would quickly turn into dozens, and that would be turned to hundreds. The entire defensive position would be gone before Jean could blink.

If she wanted everyone to stand and fight with all their heart, she needed it to be their only choice. It would be fight or die. There would be no escape.

Somewhere in Jean's mind, she could remember an ancient proverb that said "Be put in a place of death and you will live." She didn't know where that came from, but she knew that made sense, and that was exactly what she was doing.

As the reaper captain left, Jean checked her weapons again before hearing someone talking in the radio.

"Hey hot shot." Jean didn't even need to recognize the voice to know who it was. Tychus would usually call her by something much less polite. Horner called her lieutenant Turner. Raynor called her Jean. Only Swann would give her nicknames.

"A little busy here…" Jean was in no position to chat. She could already see Tal'darim ground forces assembling in a platform between their base and the terran compound.

"Trust me. You're going to like this." On the other end of the communication, Swann looked down on one of the computer screens. "I know you're going to be in a terrible situation, and I know you're going to need every piece of resource available to stop the Tal'darim. So I'm sending you a gift."

The sound of running engines came in, and Jean looked up and saw half a dozen fresh dropships approaching. They quickly landed and unloaded 8 ARES. That wasn't surprising. What was surprising is that they unloaded twenty or so sets of specialized gadgets.

"I present to you spare parts for auto, missile, and flamethrower turrets. Your SCVs can assemble them together and turn them into a part of your defenses."

"Thanks, Swann. I owe you one." As the SCVs went to the dropships and started putting the parts together at the entrances, Jean thanked Swann. The chief engineer wasn't completely safe on the Hyperion either as there was a chance Tal'darim strike teams could land on the ship, but he still decided to send his personal mechanical guards to her. This would never have happened in the Dominion or the mercenary ranks, but she was a member of Raynor's Raiders, and the Raiders helped their brothers and sisters in need even if it meant risking themselves.

"You're welcome. If you need anything else, just ask."

Meanwhile, on the other less peaceful side, Nyon was preparing for an attack.

"My master, we have arrived. Any terran vessel attempting to go through this place will be completely obliterated!" The captain of the phoenix squadron sent to keep the terran dropships from fleeing has arrived. Twelve phoenixes patrolled above the air of the compound just outside the range of ground to air weapons.

Jean brought all eleven vikings the Raiders had with her, but she had no intention of sending them out to clear the air. Phoenixes had much more agility, shield, armor, and firepower than vikings. At least several vikings were needed to take down a single phoenix. Eleven vikings against twelve phoenixes would end terribly for the terran. The female commander simply used the vikings as ground units.

"Maintain your position. If any terran ship gets in or out, you will be answering to me." After doing his casual threat, Nyon turned to ascendant Falgal, commander of the ships. "Now, where's my fleet?"

In space, the Tal'darim fleet was slowly approaching the terran battlecruiser. Four destroyers were slightly in front of the carriers, covering the capital ships from enemy fire. Four squad of phoenixes, 48 of these elite fighters, spread out. In small numbers their ion cannons could do very little against the heavy plating of the terran capital ship, but forty eight of them could easily swarm over the lone cruiser and rip it open piece by piece. Anti air laser batteries could barely touch them.

"My master, we are approaching the terran ship." The female Tal'darim commander replied. Her armored neural cord swung from side to side as she spoke. "Wait, they are charging up their main cannon. Brace for impact!"

The Raiders have made a small fortune recently, and a large amount of that was spent on replenishing the ammunition and energy of their flagship. The ship's energy was at maximum level, allowing it to use Yamato Cannon and defensive matrix multiple times. Its missile pods were fully loaded. The main warp drive was down, but the Hyperion had multiple smaller warp drivers used for short distance jumps. The capital ship was at its full might. Fully stocked, it was completely different from the rag tagged ship that was held back by a few corruptors on Agria.

Right now, the Yamato Cannon was being charged up. Tal'darim observers could spot destructive orange energy assembling in the tip of the ship.

"All power to shields!"

Within just a few seconds, the Yamato Cannon round flew toward the Tal'darim flank. It was aimed at one of the destroyers.

Yamato Cannon was powerful, but plasma shields, especially those of capital ships like carriers, were tough. Matt Horner knew it was better to heavily damage a support ship than to slightly weaken a capital ship.

The destroyer pilot sensed the approaching danger with his psionic power. Despite being just an insignificant part of the Death Fleet, he was actually an ascendant. A normal terran pilot would try to dodge the shot, but the Tal'darim pilot didn't. Even if he was willing to lay down his honor and flee from danger, he wouldn't be able to move something as large as the destroyer in time. Instead, he merely poured every piece of void energy he had into the shield generator.

The orange energy smashed into blue layer of shield and erupted into a ball of kenetic energy. The destroyer pilot screamed as he tried to maintain the plasma shield, which was growing dimmer by the seconds.

After two seconds, the Yamato Cannon round finally disappeared, and so did most of the ship's shield.

The destroyer pilot fell back in his seat, exhausted but relaxed. He psionically scanned the ship and realized the shield generator was almost fried. Another shot like that and the destroyer would be gone.

Luckily, the terran wouldn't live long enough to unload a second shot. The phoenixes were already close enough to open fire and the rest of the fleet wasn't far behind either.

"Push on!" Falgal glanced at the unfortunate destroyer and didn't do anything to comfort the ascendant that barely cheated death. She explicitly ordered and turned back to Nyon. "My master, our destroyers are making contact with the terran battlecruiser. Their puny technology will melt like ice..."

That was when the Hyperion suddenly blinked and disappeared.

"How did they jump?" One of the carrier pilots demanded angrily. "I thought those cloaked cowards disabled their warp drive!" Ascendants weren't a fan of blood hunters, unless those blood hunters serve the ascendants. After all, most of the time blood hunters were used to eliminate inside enemies rather than outside ones.

"It's a short term jump. They used one of the weaker warp drives." It didn't take Falgal long to understand the situation. "Phoenixes, spread out and scout the area. They can not be far. The moment they exit warp space is the moment we will strike."

Before the agile fighters could even carry out the order, the Hyperion exited warp space a significant distance away from the Tal'darim Fleet.

"Open fire on designated target!" After brushing off the effect of the jump with pure experience, Horner quickly ordered. A small grin was on his face. He saw how the brutal Tal'darim were, but his ship wasn't defenseless either. If the Tal'darim wanted to take their lives, they would need to do it the hard way. The Raiders weren't going down without a fight.

The Yamato Cannon of the ship was loaded again. Only this time it wasn't aimed at a random destroyer. Instead, the adjutant located the destroyer hit by the first Yamato Cannon and locked onto it. The Yamato Cannon was heading straight for it.

Once again the destroyer pilot sensed the imminent danger, but there was nothing he could do. He needed a set of coordinates and previous preparation to warp away, and he had neither. All he could do was give everything he had into the shield generator. A Daelaam protoss would've warped out of there via the emergency warping system already, but the Tal'darim saw these systems as the work of cowards. Perhaps a few top ascendants were equipped with it, but this ascendant wasn't one of them.

The Yamato Cannon hit the destroyer, was held back for a few seconds by the plasma shield, but quickly broke through. The protoss vessel was engulfed in a wave of flame before perishing alone with the protoss inside.

Falgal slammed her fist into one of the control panels. It was more due to the shame of losing a support ship at a point of absolute advantage than due to losing one of her men. "Warriors of Amon, engage the terran ship! Let's see how many jumps they have left!" She suddenly realized she was still connected to Nyon. "Sixth Ascendant," she hesitated, as if too embarrassed to speak.

"What is it?" Nyon has been listening to what happened the entire time, and he quickly realized he wasn't going to enjoy what he was about to hear.

"The terran have employed a rather...unorthodox tactic. It will take some time before we can take them out, but in the name of Amon, I promise we will bring it down!"

"You outnumber the terran 12 to 1. Oh, my apologies, 11 to 1. Even a fool couldn't lose this battle." Nyon smirked, annoyed at the promise. "You not only need to take down the battlecruiser, but you need to do it quickly. We don't know how long it will be until their warp drives come online. The same trick can't work twice. The terran are fools, but even the blood hunters can't sneak upon on them twice."

"Trust me, my master. I will accomplish my mission."

"You better. My blood hunters are as good at hunting down Tal'darim as they are at disabling warp drives and executing prisoners."

As the transmission ended, the look of obedience on Falgal's face disappeared and was replaced by a frustrated groan. Yet the ascendant knew Nyon meant it. If she failed, the Sixth Ascendant wouldn't hesitate to use her as a scapegoat.

The female Tal'darim turned her fear and frustration toward her underlings.

"All units push forward at maximum speed! Anyone who shies away from battle will know my wrath!"

"For Amon!"


	35. Chapter 35

A squad of four hundred Tal'darim warriors assembled outside the northern entrance leading to the plateau. They mainly consisted off zealots and slayers. There were two havocs among them.

A low level ascendant was leading the assault.

This was just the first round. As arrogant as Nyon was, he was an experienced commander. He had four thousand warriors and the terran had four hundred, but the fact that the terran deployed a group of ground forces to the surface of the planet was suspicious.

Are they still going after the piece of artifact? Even when their only way out is being chased after and about to be shot down?

Nonetheless, he was cautious. As much as he looked down on the terran, he couldn't help but admit they were innovative.

The first group of warriors was sent to test the Raiders out. If the Raiders had something up their sleeves, these warriors should be enough to force those tricks out. If they didn't, well, he would send reinforcements and kill every last of them in the name of Amon.

Those warriors were treated as tools, and even they themselves knew it, but none of them cared. Living in a society as cruel as that of the Tal'darim meant being used. In fact, being used was a good thing. It meant they still had value. To these warriors, this battle was not a danger to their lives but was rather an opportunity to rise in the chain of ascension.

The ascendant knew that as well as he drew his crimson blade and pointed at the Raider formation. "Charge! For Amon!"

Four hundred Tal'darim followed. Zealots ignited their blades and fought for a chance to be the one in front. The more in front they were, the faster they could get into battle, and the more glory they could gain. Slayers, with their metal limbs, were slower, but occasionally some of them would cheat and blink forward a few steps into the front.

By choosing to be forged into a slayer armor, the slayers have given up an opportunity to be a part of the chain of ascension. However, that didn't mean they no longer had any desire for glory.

The terran formation was already in place. Two lines of bunkers completely blocked off the entrance. Two siege tanks were in the back. Their turrets were ready to pump out countless rounds on top of any enemy that dared come in firing range.

In one of the bunkers, a certain female marine licked her lips as the wall of red came closer and closer.

It had been a while since the battle of Meinhoff, and after the bloody battle the female marine found herself much calmer in the face of danger. To a degree, she was already in the middle of being transformed from an armed civilian to a professional soldier.

Now that hundreds of Tal'darim were charging toward her, the marine, oddly, found herself unfazed. In fact, she even cracked a smile.

"What's so funny?" A mercenary marine beside her asked, seeing the woman's grin under her open helmet.

"Nothing. It's just that I suddenly realized the protoss are so ugly."

All three other marines in the bunker broke into laughters. The tense mood was suddenly gone.

"Cut the chatters." A Raider captain ordered. "All units, you are ordered to hold your fire."

The marines exchanged a confused look but nonethelessly complied.

The Tal'darim went over half the charging distance without being hit by a single bullet. The common zealots were already thrilled with the idea of slaughtering defenseless targets, but the leading ascendant wasn't one of the brutes. He realized something was wrong. The warrior silently focused more void energy to his plasma shield.

One second the terran line was silent. The next second the sound of gauss rifles firing echoed through the field.

It was the Warden marines. Jean ordered most of the Raiders to hold their fire because they only had limited ammunition. She needed to use them as efficiently as possible. One shot one kill was impossible, but the least she could do was make sure every shot reached its target. Who was better at doing that than AI powered Warden units?

Perhaps she would order all units to open fire when the Tal'darim got too close and she needed as much firepower as possible, but not now.

The ascendant groaned as dozens of gauss bullets hit his plasma shield. He wasn't as strong as Nyon psionically and his plasma shield generator, though stronger than that of the zealots, was still at a personal level. The bullets were deflected, but his shield shook violently as well.

If these bullets could do that to his shield, then what could they do to his warriors?

The ascendant didn't bother looking back. Instead, he merely scanned behind him psionically.

What he realized was something he didn't enjoy.

All 73 rifles hit their target, and as the Warden marines kept on firing, they unloaded hundreds of bullets in a few seconds. Since bullets couldn't mysteriously change their direction, almost all the bullets hit the dozen or so Tal'darim in front. The ascendant was strong enough to survive.

The zealots weren't.

13 zealots collapsed with their bodies riddled with bullets. Their shield generators were still intact, but the void energy input of the zealots wasn't enough to maintain a plasma shield strong enough to take this amount of bullets in such a short amount of time. Once the plasma shield was gone, the armors didn't last long either.

Still, the casualty didn't frighten the Tal'darim. If anything it made them even faster. Hundreds of zealots stepped over the fading body of the thirteen zealots without any hesitation.

The short but precise bursts of Warden marine gauss rifles didn't stop, and following another wave of firing another dozen zealots fell and died. The ascendant groaned as he felt his red plasma shield blinking continuously from dozens of impact in nearly a second or so.

The two rounds of firing took just seconds, but the zealots were fast. Their enhanced leg muscles pushed them forward and into the storm of bullets. The ones in front were immediately gunned down, but even with the firepower of the Warden marines they needed some time to kill the zealots.

It was these seconds that made sure the Tal'darim line, despite shrinking by the seconds, was always advancing. After ten seconds, the Tal'darim forces, already three fourth of its former size, was at a dangerous distance away from the terran.

The ascendant screamed in a mixture of bloodthirst and relief. Finally, after being unloaded on by a group of terran thieves for what seemed like forever, it was their time to do some damage. He held his right hand out, and a wave of destructive energy condensed at his fingertip. He pushed the energy forward.

One moment nothing happened. The next moment a bunker on the other side exploded. All four Warden marines inside were reduced to metal scrap.

Having an AI didn't make the Warden units invincible.

The Tal'darim cheered even as they dropped another twenty bodies. The gauss rifles hit harder as the protoss got closer.

"Captain?" In the bunker, one of the mercenary marines demanded. Sitting back and taking a beating without fighting back wasn't exactly in his menu.

The captain wasn't listening to the marine. Instead, he was listening to someone on the other side of the radio. The marines could see him nodding before turning to the squad radio.

"Open fire."

Everything the Raiders had started firing. The two siege tanks on this side blasted with their crucio shock cannons. The rounds landed in the center mass of the Tal'darim flank and exploded.

The tight formation of the Tal'darim allowed the siege tank rounds to do maximum damage. Several zealots were instantly evaporated with nothing remaining that proved they ever existed. Even their armor and shield generator were gone. The slayers either turned on their phasing armors, which absorbed most of the blast, or blinked away, but that was just the first wave.

Every single marine and marauder, whether they were mercenary, Warden, or Raider, and whether they were in the bunkers or not, opened fire almost at the exact same second. Gauss bullets and grenades slammed into the first line of Tal'darim, including the ascendant.

Zealots screamed as they fell. Terran weaponry pierced their shield, armor, and body, along with their pride. When the zealots tried to charge forward, they found themselves knocked off their feet by marauder concussive shells.

The ascendant made a desperate battle cry as he released the mind blast he was preparing and did his best to add those energy into his shield, but this time it was no longer from the Warden units, who were preciser but smaller in number. Instead, it was a storm of bullets, grenades, cannon rounds, and everything else.

He was barely holding the shield when a Crucio cannon round landed _on_ him. Literally. The blast was simply too much for him to handle. With a desperate scream, the ascendant felt as if someone slammed him in the head with a hammer. As experienced as he was, he knew it was the result of his psionic power being punched back by brute force. For the moment he lost control of his void energy. Give him a few minutes and he could reassemble them, but he didn't have a few minutes. He didn't even have a few seconds before an explosion washed over his body.

The ascendant felt his skin melting. He knew he has lost everything. Even if he could survive this, he would be seen as a loser. A weakling. Someone who was defeated by terran with equal numbers didn't deserve any respect. A single zealot could laugh upon him and no one would mind.

His thoughts were cut short as a light beam landed on him and brought him out of the slaughterhouse. Unlike the ascendant in the destroyer, this ascendant valued his own life a bit too much. Whether that was a good thing remained to be decided.

With the ascendant gone, the rest of the Tal'darim were stuck in an awkward situation. Zealots did all they could do charge forward, but everything the Raiders had slowed them down and even pushed them back.

Slayers made a last attempt to achieve victory. Fifty of them blinked at once and found themselves almost right beside the terran line. The two siege tanks unloaded two rounds in the middle of the slayers and, with the help of the biological units, killed half the slayers almost instantly, but the rest, either with luck or with their phasing armor, survived long enough to unload their particle disruptors on the bunkers.

Immediately, three bunkers fell, along with all twelve marines and marauders inside. However, that was it.

Four goliaths walked up from behind and added to the already menacing firepower. The slayers were quickly reduced to a bunch of broken suits leaking crimson void energy.

The rest of the zealots were forced to make a decision. The two havocs were down in the first round of siege tank fire. Their ranged support, the slayers, were gone. There were a few adepts, but their glaive cannons weren't enough to change the tide. At least one hundred zealots remained, but that number was decreasing by the seconds.

A division appeared in the Tal'darim ranks. It was obvious that victory was nowhere to be reached. One third of the zealots, fanatics, wanted to keep charging and die trying. The other two third suggested falling back and regroup.

This led to an traffic jam. Some zealots from the back wanted to move forward while some in the front wanted to pull back. All the while the terran kept on firing. The result was eighty more dead zealots.

As the Tal'darim fled with their tails between their legs, the terran cheered. Everyone, mercenary or not, didn't hesitate to use their radios to show how thrilled they were.

And they had the right to do so. They were mercenaries, and they were facing one of the most ruthless army in the sector. The fact that they charged head on into a wall of steel and only considered retreating when 75% of their warriors were dead was nothing less than astonishing. In a fair fight, at least an entire squad of twelve marines was needed to take down a single zealot, and there would still be casualties.

In this fight, there were surely casualties, but the positioning of the units was so good that when the battle began, the advantage of the terran units was fully utilized while the disadvantage of the protoss was amplified countless times.

And they had one woman to thank for that. Every unit knew they only managed to do so under the command of Jean Turner.

Jean allowed the Raiders to relax for half a minute before overriding the communication channel and muting all the speakers except herself.

"Calm down. That was just the first wave." She rained on their parade. "But if we can keep this going, we can live through this. We _will_ live through this."


	36. Chapter 36

"Let me go! I am an ascendant!"

Nyon turned around and found himself staring at one of the ascendants under his command. Two supplicant zealots dragged him here. His weapons were stripped and his arms were put in chains. Instead of floating in the air proudly like what he normally did, the ascendant seemed beaten down.

"My master, we found him trying to steal a transport. Killed two zealots on the way." One of the supplicants saluted and explained.

The captured ascendant was the one that led the attack on the terran lines. His warriors were gone, but he managed to survive, barely, with an emergency warping system he secretly installed for himself.

As soon as he got out, he realized he needed to get out of there right now. In the Tal'darim world, unless there was a proper reason for it, or unless he or she was still useful, defeated ascendants would either be executed or be put through an extremely painful modification and be stuck into vanguard armors to die to redeem their honor. The ascendant knew some ascendants would accept that fate, but he wasn't one of them. As soon as he could, he tried to grab a transport and escape this planet. If he could go to the territory of another ascendant who didn't know what he did, he might be able to start over again.

Let's just say things didn't go as planned. The transports, especially in this intense time, was guarded by Nyon's supplicants. These warriors obeyed Nyon and Nyon alone. Without the Sixth Ascendant's orders, the ascendant failed to convince them to move with his threats and promises. When he went desperate, he attacked and killed two supplicant guards, but the rest quickly overwhelmed him. Wounded and alone, he didn't stand a chance.

"Please, my master. Allow me a chance to redeem myself…" The warrior begged for Nyon's sympathy. Unfortunately, Nyon didn't have any sympathy.

The Sixth Ascendant merely smirked as the lower ascendant begged. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed onto the ascendant by his neck and lifted him up into the air.

"Tal'darim! Hear me!" He screamed with the ascendant still in his grip, and every Tal'darim warrior within his vicinity assembled to around him. When the audience was in place, Nyon finally spoke.

"For millennials, Amon has entrusted his creation to us! It is our duty to ensure it remains in the hands of the Forged!" Nyon lifted the ascendant up even higher. "This piece of filth is tasked with destroying the terran thieves. He was defeated! If he chose to die for Amon, then his sin would be gone. Yet, he chose to flee! What should we do with him?"

The Tal'darim crowd screamed in anger. Some of them wanted the ascendant dead while others wanted something much worse.

Realizing the situation and understanding he was done, a vicious look appeared in the ascendant's eyes. His bane blade was stripped away, but he was an ascendant, not a common zealot. Without any warning, he formed a psionic orb in his right fist. Just as he was about to throw it out at Nyon, he saw a smile on the Sixth Ascendant's face.

Before he knew it, a red blade appeared by Nyon's arm, and he swung the weapon and cut off the captured ascendant's arm that was holding the psionic orb.

The ascendant screamed in mind shattering pain, but Nyon showed no mercy. He brutally tossed the ascendant on the ground. "Make him suffer." He ordered quietly, and four blood hunters emerged from the shadows and dragged the ascendant away. The Tal'darim warriors quieted down. They were aware of the perverseness of the blood hunters. These covert warriors did things that would make Tal'darim falter on a daily basis. If the coward was in their hands, he would suffer a fate much worse than death.

And that was exactly what should happen to cowards. Perhaps the ascendant did nothing wrong, but he was weak, and in this world, weakness alone was a sin.

Seeing the morale of his warriors was at its peak, Nyon pointed at the terran fortification. "Go! Destroy that fortress and execute every terran you see! The work of god shall not be desecrated!"

3600 Tal'darim charged at the terran line like a crimson flood.

* * *

This time the Tal'darim struck from both sides. The protoss outnumbered the terran ten to one. More points of contact meant more Tal'darim could get on in the action at the same time while the amount of terran firepower remained the same.

"All units fire at will.!" Jean ordered calmy through the radio. If Nyon was a raging ball of fire that would consume everything in his way, then she was a wall of steel that could never be defeated. Overwhelmed, maybe, but never taken down.

The terran line opened fire. All three siege tanks fired and reloaded as efficiently as possible. Their projectiles landing in the middle of the protoss flanks, killing several and damaging the shields of everyone in the blast radius with every shot. Marines and marauders unloaded on the zealots at the front. Goliaths added to the already impressive firepower.

But there was too much protoss. The holes opened up by siege tanks rounds or other projectiles was quickly covered by those from behind.

Twenty vanguards approached the terran bunkers in a tight formation. Vanguards were Tal'darim striders. Their pilots were ascendants defeated in battle but survived. As a punishment, these ascendants were placed in vanguards. Their only duty was to use their powerful yet short distanced scattered cannons to do as much damage to the enemies as possible before they die. The Daelaam immortals had hardened shells or barriers that could keep the strider and its pilot alive as long as possible, but the Tal'darim didn't feel the need to do that. For an assault strider, vanguards had a relatively weak plasma shield and armor.

Tactically speaking this wasn't ideal. Judging from the name, vanguards were usually sent as the frontline, which wasn't the best place to be for artillery units. If Jean was in command, she would find a way to increase the range of the vanguards and scatter them among her other units so they could fire as much as possible before they die.

But then again to the ascendants, the main purpose of the vanguards was to die. If they could do some damage, great. If they died before being able to fire a single shot, then there was no loss either.

If anything, certain ascendants were even willing to actively choose to send vanguards to their death.

Nyon wasn't one of such ascendants, but he didn't bother to go against the tradition and keep the vanguards alive either. After he ordered the attack, the vanguards acted based on the usual tactic and charged forward in one tight clump.

Jean keenly noticed that opening.

"All siege tank units on the northern position concentrate fire on sector N8! Fire for three rounds and wait for further instructions!" Before the battle Jean divided the battlefield into different sectors so her men could receive, understand, and carry out orders as quickly as possible.

The two siege tanks turned their turrets away from the zealots and took aim of the vanguards. Suddenly, the bodies of the siege tanks were pushed back as the Crucio cannons sang.

Within less than a second, two cannon rounds landed in the middle of the vanguards.

The pilots screamed as the metal hull of the striders were obliterated. A few of them desperately opened fire, but their scattered cannons, despite being more powerful than most terran ground vehicles and being able to obliterate a bunker with a single shot, required them to get a lot closer to reach the line of bunkers. The result of these vanguards firing only led to a few zealots in front being melted by the not-so-friendly friendly fire.

When the smoke cleared, 3 vanguards were down and three times that number were wounded. Before the survivors could take a breath of relief, the siege tanks fired again.

And after that, again.

Nyon groaned, slightly frustrated, as he saw the vanguards being slaughtered, but he still wasn't considering the possibility that the Tal'darim might lose this battle. Vanguards' were relatively expensive, but to someone as powerful as he, the twenty casualties was still acceptable. The structure of the chain of ascension meant there was constantly casualties, which meant there was constantly ascendants being defeated and sent into vanguards.

The fall of the vanguards was just an insignificant part of the overall battle. Neither the protoss nor the terran paused for even a single second.

Zealots fell one by one, but eventually some of them lived long enough to reach the bunkers. The leading zealot let loose an ear piercing scream as he launched himself across the last layer of empty space in front of the bunkers. He could already feel his blades sliding through terran flesh and hear the screams of dying men.

The terran have fired at them for what seemed like forever and brought down countless warriors. It was time to return the favor.

But just before his red weapon could make contact with the first bunker, he felt something emerging from the ground. A lesser warrior would've been taken by surprise and backed off, but the zealot made the split second decision to keep charging and fight his way through whatever awaited him or die trying.

Which meant he smashed into thousands of degrees of inferno.

After realizing the zealots were getting too close, Jean ordered the five flamethrower turrets, courtesy of Chief Engineer Swann, to attack. They were previously hidden underground, waiting for their opportunity. Now that the order was given, they immediately rose up and set the unsuspecting zealots aflame.

The first zealot screamed. A more armored unit, like slayers or vanguards, would've survived a bit longer, but the zealot's light plasma shield, already weakened during his charge, was no match for the heat. Immediately, the layer of defense was shattered into a thousand different pieces. The shield was gone, but the flame kept coming. It burned away the zealot's armor and melted his flesh. In less than two seconds, the elite warrior was completely gone.

What made things worse was that flamethrower turrets did area damage, and the melee zealots had no way of getting close enough without being burned. Even if some extremely durable zealot could survive long enough to deliver a strike or two, they were ineffective against the heavy building armor of the turrets.

Screams covered the field, but the Tal'darim kept charging. A few wiser zealots wanted to wait for the slayers to take down the turrets before charging meaninglessly into death, but they were pushed forward by the rest of the crowd.

Yet, despite taking heavy losses, these protoss showed the Raiders the power of the combination of a group of fearless and experienced combatants armed with superior technology.

An ascendant held her fist together, and a bunker exploded. Two of the marines managed to get out of there and enter the safety of another bunker, but their comrades didn't share the same luck as they were targeted down by half a dozen slayers. The amount of damage a dozen participle disruptor shots could do to two marines was brutal. The men didn't even live long enough to produce a scream in the radio channel.

A squad of slayers made a daring move as they blinked forward on top of two bunkers. Their phasing armor temporarily protected them from the infantry firing and the siege tanks didn't want to do friendly fire. This allowed them to unload on the bunkers.

The two bunkers were immediately in ruins. Most of the men inside were dead. A mercenary marauder barely got out of the door and was immediately shot in the back by one of the slayers. Amor melted and flesh disintegrated. The man was dead before he hit the ground.

A flamethrower turret was charged on by twenty zealots. Its flamethrower kept on unloading scorching damage onto the zealots, but one of the tougher zealots managed to push his blade into the turret before he was melted. Apparently the weapon was lucky and took down some major circuits, because the turret went silent. It didn't stay silent for long, though, as it was immediately ripped to pieces by raging zealots.

"Sir, the line is falling!" A captain screamed desperately as he gunned down another zealot.

"Send in the reserves." Jean said calmly. She kept a group of powerful units back because she wanted to use them as a card for potential Tal'darim tricks, but she had no choice but to use them right now.

Eleven vikings and 8 ARES came up from behind. Their cannons were shooting nonstop, and the Tal'darim advance was halted. A line of auto turrets came out of the ground from behind the bunkers and added to the firepower. Marines and marauders inside the bunkers pulled the trigger like their lives depended on it, because they did.

"My master, we have lost over 600 warriors." In the back of the Tal'darim lines, a supplicant zealot walked up to Nyon and reported.

Nyon wasn't taken back. His forces on this planet was reduced to three fourths of its former number, but so what? The army here was just a small portion of his entire fleet, which was scattered all over the sector. If he was to assemble every warrior he had, he could find himself with tens of thousands of combatants. As long as his own supplicant forces were intact, he could lose all the Tal'darim warriors here and still recover relatively easily.

Plus, the 600 warriors didn't die in vain. Nyon could already see the terran line cracking under the Tal'darim tide. The terran commander fought well, but sometimes the difference in power level was too much to be made up by tactics. Nyon knew if the terran commander had an army as large as his, she would surely come up on top, but war isn't fair.

Even in the Rak'Shir duel, the one with more support would usually win.

Nonetheless, this battle has gone on for long enough.

"Wrathwalkers, eliminate all terran. Obliterate their bunkers and annihilate their machines."

Behind Nyon, three 50 meter tall striders with four long legs and red coloring walked up. They used to be colossus under the Aiur faction, but after the Tal'darim got hold of them, they made certain transformations to these mighty weapons. Thermal lenses were considered to be too weak to Tal'darim ascendants and were replaced by charged pulse blasters that could hit by ground and air targets over a long range. Their shots took quite a while to charge, but a single one of them dealt a significant amount of damage. If situation permits, a wrathwalker could take down a destroyer.

Obviously, these wrathwalkers were rare. Even Nyon, at the place of the Sixth Ascendant, only had three of them. He kept them back most of the time and only used them when he was confident he wouldn't lose them. This time, he was willing to throw them out as a decisive card that would quicken the terran's demise.


	37. Chapter 37

The female marine watched in horror as a giant ball of red energy flew across the sky, barely missed the bunker she was in, and landed on one of the goliaths. The goliath pilot didn't even manage to scream before being melted.

"What the f**k! Where did that come from?" A mercenary marine yelled through the comm while pulling down the trigger of his gun with the strength of his entire arm. Zealots and slayers could be gunned down, but how was he supposed to use his gauss rifle to take down something that was shooting from a position he couldn't even see?

"What in the bloody hell!" Beside Jean, the reaper captain's jaw hung wide open. His men weren't different either. "How are we supposed to take that thing down?"

Unlike the common soldiers, he was beside Jean and could see the image of the shooter from a scanner. That didn't help in any way shape or form, though, as the reaper captain knew there was nothing they could do against the giant walker that was practically shooting from behind the entire Tal'darim army. All Raider ground units were held back by the Tal'darim. Jean could send the vikings out, but they wouldn't last five minutes against the phoenixes. Even siege tanks couldn't hit that far.

Unfortunately, the man knew he had no choice but to stand and fight. Even if he could get in one of the dropships and lift off in safety, he would be gunned down in the air. There was nothing he could do but look at Jean and hope she had a plan.

"Sir?" Frustrated, the man looked at Jean and suddenly felt slightly calmer.

This was where Jean's poker face came into effect. Even in such a desperate occasion, her eyes were still as peaceful as ever. She wasn't sweating. Her hands weren't shaking. She was just sitting there like she had everything under control. Whether or not she really had a card to play was a different story, but as long as she looked like she was confident, her men would feel that as well.

Instead of answering the reaper captain's question, Jean grabbed onto the radio.

"SCV, report."

"The device is fully functional, sir."

"Good. You see that giant piece of Tal'darim walker over there?"

"Yes sir."

"Take it out."

In the middle of the terran base was a Drakken Laser Drill. It worked by firing a giant laser beam at the target capable of melting down almost anything. It was brought here by the first group of mercenaries to take down the door of the Xel'naga temple. When Jean found it, slightly damaged but repairable, she realized if this drill could go through the enhanced door of a Xel'naga temple, it could surely work against protoss units.

Unfortunately, there was a reason the drill wasn't used to arm the entire Dominion fleet and the terran weren't going around killing everyone with their mining devices. Apart from the massive energy consumption, it was difficult to aim the device and make sure it accurate lands on the intended target. This meant if the operator tried to use it on a zealot, it would likely miss. When the mercenaries were attacked, one of them tried to use the drill. The fact that all the mercenaries were dead explained what happened.

But this was no longer a problem against fifty meters tall wrathwalkers. The orange laser beam came out of the drill, went across from above the entire Tal'darim army, and hit the wrathwalker that took out the goliath.

A thick layer of red plasma shield appeared in front of the walker. Something as precious as the wrathwalkers was surely well protected. Unfortunately, the laser beam was continuous. The plasma shield held for now, but its energy was quickly depleting.

"Fall back now!" Nyon realized he made a mistake. At this point if he pushed forward with the wrathwalkers he might still break through the defenses, but he would likely lose one, two, or all three of these striders. It would be a painful blow and suffering this type of loss just because he was impatient was nothing short of foolish.

He had the terran surrounded. It was just a matter of time before the final victory. Why would he risk the safety of three precious war machines when he could place common zealots and slayers in danger? The three wrathwalkers were ten times more valuable than the ground forces in the field.

The three wrathwalkers retreated as quickly as they could. The Tal'darim foot soldiers didn't even realize that happened. The ascendants saw it and understood Nyon's thinking, but none of them said anything. As long as they could keep their supplicant warriors in safety, the ordinary zealots and slayers were easily replaceable. The Tal'darim population was around fifteen million, and almost all of them were combatants. As long as the ascendants could take the terran from this field and maintain their glory, there would constantly be fresh Tal'darim joining them.

When the wrathwalkers were forced back, Jean ordered the drill to be turned on the Tal'darim mass. It didn't work as well on zealots and slayers, but it was better than nothing. Plasma shields and bodies melted. Even the toughest zealot couldn't survive a few seconds under the laser beam. The Tal'darim casualty was sharply increasing.

Unfortunately, so was the Raider casualty. Under the tireless charge of the Tal'darim, the first line of bunkers have already fallen on both sides. Out of the two hundred or so units in those bunkers, over half of them were dead. The rest retreated to the second line of bunkers, constructed by SCVs as quickly as they could, and joined the rest of the Raiders in a final stand.

But, seeing the casualties, Jean wasn't worried. Instead, she was looking down on a timer.

In space, the Hyperion exited warp space once again and fired another round of orange blast at one of the destroyers.

"I shall be one...with Amon!" A ball of flame ended the pilot's scream.

Falgal growled and smashed her fists against each other. That was already the third destroyer down. The losses were adding up. More importantly, if, after so much trouble and so many losses, the terran vessel still got away, then her authority would be crushed. She would be a weakling who held an overwhelming fleet, lost three ships, and still failed to destroy the enemy. She would lose her control of the fleet, at best. She shuttered to think of the worst situation.

She knew she needed to change her tactics.

"All Tal'darim ships, spread out! Cover every inch of the planet's parameter and destroy any terran you see!" The terran were only able to survive because the Tal'darim capital ships didn't have the speed chase them down. If she could put her ships in a sufficient position, the terran would have nowhere to jump to.

The Tal'darim pilots obeyed. The other three carriers and five destroyers deviated from the original course while Falgal drove her capital ship after the Hyperion.

That was what Horner was waiting for.

"Reload Yamato Cannon! Prepare defensive matrix. All laser batteries standby to fire." One carrier was less than four carriers and five destroyers. If he could abuse this temporal weakness and take down one of the carriers, it would be a heavy blow to their firepower. This wasn't a game and Horner didn't know the carrier after him was the Tal'darim Fleet commander, but he did know carriers were few and precious. Take one down and the Tal'darim would surely think twice about coming after him.

Falgal noticed the Hyperion stopping and readying for battle, but she wasn't shaken. Instead, she was smirking.

She has been fighting for hundreds of years. She fought all three races before. There was no way she would make the mistake of underestimating her enemy and charge head-on into the enemy and be taken out, leaving her ships leaderless.

Inside the hull of her ship was a hundred supplicant zealots loyal to her and her alone. Her carrier was capable of projecting a power field onto any enemy ship over a short distance. A part of the reason why she sent the carriers and destroyers away was because she wanted the Hyperion to stop running and even actively come to her, and she could only do that if she made the terran commander feel like he could win this engagement.

As soon as the Hyperion try to take her out, she would bring her ship forward and send small Tal'darim strike teams inside the terran vessel. There was no way those terran thieves could stand up against Tal'darim elite in such close quarter combat.

The hunter would be the hunted.

But, really, who is the real hunter?

Turned out Nyon wasn't the hunter. Jean wasn't the hunter. Horner wasn't the hunter. And certainly, Falgal wasn't the hunter.

"Captain, massive amount of warp signals detected! They appear to be...zerg."

Raynor groaned. "Kerrigan!"

A distance away from Xil high orbit, twenty leviathans appeared out of thin air. Their purple armor showed their allegiance toward the swarm while their toughened armor and enhanced tentacles showed their faction as the Queen of Blades' personal fleet.

Inside her throne room, Kerrigan smirked victoriously.

She has set her eyes on the artifact pieces a while ago. The fraction on Monlyth was taken away from her because of her carelessness and arrogance, but she swore she wouldn't let that happen again.

The second least defended artifact fragment was the one on Xil, but even so it was under the protection of a sizeable Tal'darim fleet. She could deal with the fleet, but the fearless Tal'darim would definitely buy enough time for the artifact to be transported away.

Once behind the full protection of the Death Fleet, even Kerrigan couldn't reach the fragment with ease.

Kerrigan knew she needed to do this carefully. Instead of blindly charging in, she put her fleet on hold and deployed a web of overseers around Xil. The original plan was to gather as much information on the planet as possible so she could hopefully discover a weakness in the Tal'darim defenses and abuse it to her advantage.

Unfortunately, there was no crack in the Tal'darim defenses...until the Raiders came.

Kerrigan didn't think of anything when the first group of mercenaries came in and were massacred. Against the zerg fleet of twenty leviathans and the Tal'darim fleet of twelve capital and support ships, the hundred or so mercenaries with a squad of vikings was hardly a game changer. However, she started to pay more attention when Raynor's Raiders got into the fray.

Kerrigan knew what her former lover was capable of. The man didn't live through everything he went through by being stupid.

Just like she expected, the Hyperion was able to drag the Tal'darim ships around. With perfect control, the Hyperion was even able to take down three destroyers. Kerrigan had to admit she was impressed.

She was even more impressed when the Tal'darim commander decided to spread her fleet across the skies. It was a deadly mistake. Maybe the Tal'darim commander had her reasons, but it was a mistake nonetheless.

Kerrigan jumped on the opportunity immediately.

Twenty leviathans immediately went into action. Nine ships could hold them off for quite a while, but the fleet was spread thin. A single carrier and a single destroyer were the closest to the newly appeared Swarm fleet while the rest of the fleet were a distance away. The two ships, stranded, were immediately under fire.

Leviathan tentacles smashed into the plasma shield of both the destroyer and the carrier. Dozens of hits were done in just a few seconds, and it didn't take long before the destroyer's shield generator fell. When the shield was gone, the tentacles ripped the vessel to pieces.

The carrier was beaten down as well, but its shield was much stronger. Countless ripples originated from the points where the tentacles hit the shield and were spread across the blue layer of safety.

The pilot sent out his interceptors and turned the shield generator to maximum power before finally turning to the comm.

"Ascendant Falgal, what is your command?"

Falgal knew it wasn't her decision to make. "All ships converge on the swarm. Ascendant Nyon, are you seeing this?"

On the ground, Nyon wanted to kill something, but he was well aware of when he could unleash his anger and when he couldn't. This was one of the times he needed to remain calm.

"Hold off the Swarm as long as possible. Buy me time to bring the artifact out of here even if it means your total destruction!" Knowing Falgal would obey, Nyon left the comm without waiting for a response.

"My master." A supplicant blood hunter walked up. "What is your will?"

"Assemble my supplicant army and warp them onto my ship. You, lead a squad of your warriors into the temple and retrieve the artifact." The artifact fragment was sealed inside the temple. Its xel'naga nature meant it couldn't be warped away directly. A team was required to bring it out of the temple, onto the ship, and then the ship could warp the artifact away.

"Yes, my master." Neither Nyon nor the blood hunter mentioned what would happen to the ordinary zealots and slayers. They were replaceable. Giving their lives buying time for the blood hunters to retrieve the artifact was their only duty.

As the blood hunter left, Nyon thought about it for a while before sending a message to all the ascendants. There were dozens of ascendants still in the army. Each and every one of them was a powerful psionic master and had a small group of elite warriors under their command. All of them have pledged their allegiance to Nyon. Letting them perish as well would be a painful loss. They were still useful, so Nyon was willing to give them a path to survival.

As time passed, the Tal'darim forces besieging the terran lines backed off. They regrouped under a low level ascendant. They were beaten back and took heavy losses, and every one of them could see the swarm of zerg in the air, but their spirit was unwavering.

As they replenished their shields and ignited their bane blades, they had no idea their fate was already sealed.


	38. Chapter 38

Above the terran compound, the Hyperion appeared after doing a short ranged jump.

The squad of twelve phoenixes backed off before the Hyperion even attempted to shoo them away. As much as they wanted to kamikaze into the one-kilometer long battlecruiser, the phoenix pilots received strict orders to fall back. Nyon needed every unit he had to hold off the swarm, and any sane commander would use this opportunity to escape this soon-to-be slaughterhouse. Only madmen would try something else.

Horner was certainly sane.

"Jean, the Swarm is here! We need to get out of here ASAP!" Horner's face appeared on a computer screen in Jean's command center. "Get your men into the dropships and get back on this ship now."

"Wait, we are leaving? Without the artifact?" Jean wasn't as satisfied as Horner imagined.

The captain sighed. "The Zerg Swarm is converging on the planet. Tal'darim forces will protect the artifact at all cost. We don't have the men to take it."

"The Swarm will be fighting the Tal'darim. If we can cut in between..."

"We will be attacked by both sides. I will not be risking the life of another Raider on a piece of rock!" Horner demanded loudly. The captain was all about tactics, and this decision was tactically unwise. It might as well lead to the destruction of the entirety of Raynor's Raiders. He had zero tolerance for that.

"The artifact fragment is not meaningless. The Queen of Blades wants it so badly she launched not one, but two, full-scale attacks on heavily defended Tal'darim fortresses. Whatever it is it must be important. If we miss this opportunity, we will never have the manpower to take this back from Kerrigan. She will protect this with everything she's got." Jean insisted calmly even in this urgent situation. "We need to get it right here right now. Don't worry, I will not risk a single terran life."

"What do you mean?" Horner rose his eyebrows. He suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

"I will bring the Warden units with me into the temple and seize the artifact. Every Raider soldier, mercenary or not, will be sent back to the Hyperion. I will do this alone."

"That's out of question! Get your units ready for evacuation now. That is an order."

But Jean was persistent, and she had a reason to be so. In short term, if the artifact fell, the Raiders couldn't get the payment from Moebius, and they couldn't replace the heavy losses they took here on Xil. They wouldn't be able to get sufficient forces to complete the next mission. The Raiders would fall.

In long term, if the artifact fragment was in the hands of Kerrigan, Jean wouldn't have any chance of taking it back, which meant she couldn't use the Keystone to purify Kerrigan and destroy most of the zerg Swarm. In a conventional engagement, Raynor's Raiders would be slaughtered.

If she failed this mission, she would be executed by the so-called Supreme One. Jean wasn't afraid of death, but something inside her mind demanded her to keep fighting and keep surviving. Dying was against that objective.

She knew she needed to act.

This was risky, but fear literally wasn't present in her mind. She could be tortured for three days and her mind would still be filled with plans of escape.

"With all due respect, captain, please trust my decision."

Horner groaned as a crew member behind him shouted a warning about incoming vessels. He turned around to Raynor. "Sir, talk some sense into Jean!" If this was in the Dominion he could have Jean arrested for disobeying a direct order from her superior officer, but this was Raynor's Raiders. Jean knew as long as she had a right reason Raynor and Horner will hear her out.

Raynor was staring out the window of the bridge. Hearing Horner's words, he replied without even moving.

"You need to have more faith, Matt."

"Sir, the zerg..."

"Calm down Matt, think about it. When has Jean ever failed us?"

Matt Horner couldn't help but nod. Every decision the girl made was the best one possible. She was the calmest and most logical person he has ever seen. She never gets angry. She never gets irrational. He, Matt Horner, might make a mistake. James Raynor might make a mistake. But Jean never did and never would.

Raynor continued.

"We trusted her before, and we should trust her now. Plus, she's right. Kerrigan is after the artifacts, and the more she wants it the more we need to get it first."

Horner nodded. "Yes sir," He turned to the crew members. "Ready all weapons. Deploy scanners around the main warp drive. Prepare for battle." The scanners were to prevent the blood hunters from striking again.

On the surface of Xil, Jean turned to her reaper guards.

"Return to the Hyperion with the rest of the forces."

"What?"

The reaper captain was surprised. Usually, guards were the prime choice for this type of extremely dangerous missions, especially since Jean herself was going in. Guards had higher pays and much more privileges compared to ordinary troops. They were also safer most of the time. This came with a cost, though, as guards were supposed to put themselves between their commander and enemy firing. If necessary, they were required to literally take a bullet/spine/laser for their leader. If Jean wanted him and his men to go into the temple with her, they would have no choice but to comply. If they said no, Jean could execute them all and no one would question it. With great privilege comes great responsibility.

The reaper captain was ready to go in. He even had an evacuation plan in mind. At the first sight of trouble, he would call for transports. When the ships come, he would literally drag Jean onto the dropships if necessary. Jean would be the first to board the transport. He would be the second. When all was said and done, even Jean couldn't blame him for saving her life.

But what Jean said was even better.

Still, deep down the captain felt a sense of guilt. His job was by her side, and now he would be sent away while she charged into danger. If he was twenty years younger he would've been touched and swore his life for her, but he was experienced, and his heart was cold. He wasn't foolish enough to give his life just because he got emotional.

The man nodded slowly. "Yes, sir."

Jean turned back to the radio connected to the entire army. "All units, move to the dropships and prepare for evacuation. Hand your bullets to the nearest Warden unit of the same type before you enter the transports."

"We're alive!"

"Screw you, Tal'darim scum!"

"All hail Raynor!"

"Shut up dumb ass. It's lieutenant Turner that's commanding us!"

"All hail Turner!"

The entire camp was sprung into chaos. Men and women shouted and cheered on the radio. Even the captains gave up on restoring order in the ranks. Some of them even joined their men. This was certainly a moment worth celebrating. They were almost surely a bunch of dead men, but now most of them were alive and kicking.

Hearing the voices from her men, some of them praising her, Jean quietly switched to another channel as she walked out of the command center.

"All Warden units on this channel. Converge on my location."

Every Warden unit that survived the previous engagement against the Tal'darim walked out of their bunkers or trenches and toward an open space in front of Jean. Three Warden Command Units directed them through the Warden data web. Originally Jean programmed five Command Units, but two of them were destroyed in battle.

Warden units were much stronger than ordinary terran units, but they weren't invincible. A psi-blade through the central processor could easily end them. Their efficiency helped, but they still took quite some losses.

9 reapers and 13 marauders formed two lines in front of the 52 marines. There used to be 103 Warden units. Now there were 74.

"Follow me." She ordered explicitly before turning around and walking toward one of the dropships. Ordinary human soldiers needed to be inspired. Machines didn't.

"Orders comply." The three Warden Command Units replied simultaneously, and all 74 Warden units walked forward in unison. They quickly entered five of the dropships.

The rest of the soldiers saw the movement of Jean and the Warden units. When they heard about what Jean was doing, they were impressed.

Holding back the Tal'darim showed her skill with the tactics and ability to command. Heading into danger by herself when she could've stayed behind in safety demonstrated her courage. Intelligence and bravery were a large part of the ingredient for a good leader.

Some of the men even volunteered to join her, but Jean refused their offer.

First of all, a handful of volunteers couldn't do much. Second, the Raiders lost most of their rounds in the fight against the Tal'darim, and she needed to focus all the ammunition to a small group of elite combatants. Finally, there might be something she only trusted the machines for. Men might gossip or tattle tell. Warden AIs wouldn't.

Before long, five dropships lifted off and headed toward where the Xel'naga temple was.

* * *

The rest of the Tal'darim fleet formed a tight formation in the skies of Xil. The Swarm leviathans gradually descended from high orbit and engage the protoss. Mutalisks engaged phoenixes. Corruptors formed groups of ten and tried to isolate and overwhelm the protoss capital ships, but the Tal'darim pilots stayed close to each other. Facing an enemy as strong as the zerg Swarm, even the Tal'darim pilots decided it was best to work together with their fellow people.

The twenty leviathans stayed behind and launched countless spores at the Tal'darim. Tal'darim carriers responded with destruction beams mounted on the tip of their vessels and photon cannons placed around the ship.

Hundreds of zerg overlords, fatter than normal overlords due to the ground units inside them, charged toward the protoss lines. As they got closer, interceptors and lasers picked them off one by one. Pieces of what was left of roaches, hydralisks, and zerglings floated around the empty space.

But some of the overlords survived. They got closer to the Tal'darim ships. Close enough to matter.

One of the Tal'darim carriers' shield and armor was compromised on the lower desks. The photon cannons were taken out and the destruction beam couldn't cover that angle. Three overlords flew through the opening and dropped twenty elite roaches down inside the ship.

Twenty supplicants, fifteen supplicant zealots and five supplicant slayers, rushed to the opening, but they weren't enough. Followers of a lower leveled ascendant, they were much weaker in quality compared to the supplicants of higher ascendants like Nyon and Falgal. Even in equal numbers, the Tal'darim were barely capable of maintaining the lines with the best of the zerg Swarm.

Things changed when two more overlords entered the ship. Fifteen more roaches were enough to turn the tide against the Tal'darim.

"Loyalty until death!" The last supplicant zealot collapsed with a hole in his chest.

The ascendant pilot was sitting in the cockpit commanding the several kilometer long vessel against the zerg. He received news about zerg landing parties obliterating his supplicant army and heading for the bridge, but there was nothing he could do. All the Tal'darim ground forces were on Xil, and his supplicant army was short in both quality and quantity.

The two photon cannons in front of the door leading to the bridge bought him some extra time, but when ten hydralisks came in and launched three rounds of grooved spines, the cannons fell.

The ascendant growled as the door to the bridge was constantly battered in.

A human pilot would've panicked, but he was a Tal'darim, and every Tal'darim was a zealot. He might be a pilot, but he has been a zealot for centuries. His experience with the art of the blades exceeded ninety percent of terran ghost operatives. All the warrior did was quietly ignite his crimson bane blade.

With a screeching noise, the door was ripped apart from the center. A hydralisk lowered the claws it used to breach the gate and slid its body inside, but just before it could fire another spine, the ascendant was on top of it.

A crimson psionic orb washed over the door and fried every single zerg down the hallway. Roaches were able to tank most of the damage with their armor, but light armored hydralisks didn't share the same luck.

When the psionic orb faded away at the end of the hall, all the hydralisks were dead and most of the roaches were injured, but the zerg kept on pushing. Wounded roaches ignored their shattered armors and torn claws and pushed forward. The hydralisk body that was blocking the door was ripped apart by one of the roaches.

The ascendant acted quickly. Weapon in hand, he launched himself into the air and landed on top of the roach. Before the beast could realize what happened, a crimson weapon was already pushed through its head. The armor held for a brief second, but the ascendant stabbed down with all his strength and jammed the red blade down the roach's body through the middle.

As the unfortunate roach fell apart in two separate pieces, the roaches behind saw the ascendant, and the next second three piles of acidic saliva were projected toward the ascendant.

The warrior raised his shield and deflected all of them. He growled and held his palms together once again, and three of the roaches imploded. The fact that they were wounded meant it took less void energy to mind blast them. He launched forward once again, and ten seconds later all the roaches in the hall were in pieces.

His shields depleted and his body slightly wounded, the ascendant growled victoriously. Not every Tal'darim could say with confidence that he has slaughtered over twenty elite zerg units. If he could get back to Slayn, he could remake his entire supplicant army just with this experience.

But as the final roach collapsed, the elite protoss warrior found himself staring down at an entire hallway of hydralisks, roaches, zerglings and banelings.

During the time he took slaughtering two dozen or so hydralisks and roaches, the zerg kept on sending reinforcements. He took down twenty zerg, but two hundred took their place.

"Long live Amon…"

Twenty banelings ran into him.

In her ship, Falgal couldn't help but frown as one of her four carriers lost contact with her. Before she could do anything, the crystal that powered the ship went offline. Something took it out from the inside. Without an energy source, the photon cannons, destruction beam, and interceptors were disabled. Plasma shield disappeared. In this circumstance, losing the shield meant taking hundreds of spores, glaive worms, and corrosive acids with the haul of the ship itself. In just seconds, the carrier was no more.

That was just the beginning. The Tal'darim fleet was being picked apart piece by piece.

Defeat was imminent.


	39. Chapter 39

While the zerg fleet was engaging the Tal'darim in the air, they weren't holding back on the ground either.

Hundreds of drop pods unloaded nearly twenty thousand elite zerg units around the Tal'darim position. After what happened on Monlyth, Kerrigan learned her lesson. Instead of toying with her prey, she smashed down with an iron fist. She was planning on taking out the Tal'darim defenders and get to the artifact as quickly as possible.

The Tal'darim pulled all their units back to around the temple and gave up the rest of the planet, and the zerg didn't hesitate to set up hatcheries and mining bases while their forces engaged the Tal'darim.

The protoss were outnumbered by over seven to one. They have lost all their vanguards during the attack on the terran base. Nyon pulled back all his wrathwalkers, ascendants, and elite supplicant forces. Those were still fighting were relatively weak.

Still, they held back the zerg with immense sacrifice. Even as their bodies were ripped apart by zerg claws, the zealots used their last dying breath to stick their bane blades into the zerg in front of them. Slayers tried their best to blink out of danger and fire their particle disruptors as many times as possible.

Meanwhile, a blood hunter arrived at the entrance to the temple. Nine other blood hunters and twenty supplicant zealots followed him.

"Zealots, secure the entrance." The leading blood hunter ordered. The zealots obeyed and formed two lines in front of the several dozen meter tall gate as the blood hunters entered.

A few minutes passed before one of the zealots suddenly saw something from a distance away. At first he didn't see what it was, but the figures were approaching quickly, and he wasn't blind.

"Terran dropships. To arms!"

All the zealots ignited their weapons. There was nothing they could do against the transport themselves, but they were ready to slaughter anyone that got out.

Unfortunately, they never had a chance to play it fair.

Eight vikings dove down. One of the zealots swung his blade in excitement, but instead of turning into assault mode, these fighters unloaded sixteen lanzer torpedoes into the two lines of Tal'darim zealots.

Explosions ripped the elite ground forces apart. As the elite guards of the Sixth Ascendant of the Tal'darim, these warriors were experienced, well armed, and determined. Unfortunately, none of them allowed the zealots to jump into the air and cut open the fighters with their swords.

Five dropships landed on the ground while the vikings patrolled in the air. Jean and her 74 Warden units walked out.

One of the supplicant zealots survived. It was the leading supplicant zealot. His shield was gone and so was one of his arms. He tried to charge forward while swinging the left arm he had left, but his attempt was shut down by a single bullet to the head. Without being halted by the plasma shield, the single round penetrated the protoss' bare skin.

The Warden units spread out and made sure all the Tal'darim were down before Jean walked out of one of the transports.

"Return to the Hyperion and wait for further orders."

As she walked out, Jean ordered through the comm. This place was unsafe. She could take cover and use the terrain to her advantage in the temple, but out here in the open if the terran were under attack they would have nowhere to run. The Tal'darim and the Swarm were killing each other in the outer flanks and every protoss was either sent into the front line or brought back to prepare for evacuation, which meant it was unlikely for them to come here. Nonetheless, Jean was a carefully person. If the Tal'darim or the swarm decided to send a strike team here, she didn't want to lose the dropships and the vikings. As sad as it sounded, the eight vikings were her only air combatants. She couldn't afford to lose them.

"Yes sir." One of the pilots hesitated. "Take care, sir. If you need any help, give us a call, and we will be here ASAP."

In this world, it was extremely rare for commanders to care about their men. Someone as nice as Jean attracted respect from her men.

"Copy that." Jean replied quietly before turning to the Warden channel. "Advance."

Warden units entered the temple. Marauders were in the front. Marines covered the sides and the back. Warden reapers scouted ahead with the impressive mobility they received from their jetpacks. Jean was in the center. As she walked, she tapped a key on her helmet.

A mechanical voice rang in her armor.

"Combat Assistant A001 online. Awaiting instructions now."

"Proceed with the standard protocol."

One of the benefits of not having any emotion at all was the ability to see everything. Without arrogance or pride, Jean could easily see and deal with problems that would've been otherwise ignored. She knew she was inexperienced in the art of combat, so she discovered a way to deal with it.

Terran bodies were weak. That was a fact. She wasn't psionically capable either. Things like infestation could enhance her body and make her a powerful combatant, but the price was losing her mind.

Jean frowned upon the idea of exchanging her own conscious for power. If she gained power but was no longer herself, she would have lost everything.

She turned her eyes to what she did best: Programming. The Warden units gave her an idea. If she could program Warden Command Units that could analyze the situation and come up with the ideal way to counter the actions done by the enemies, then why couldn't she program an AI to help herself in combat?

Thus came the Warden Combat Assistant. An AI installed in her personal armor that was linked to the Warden security network and controlled most of the functions on her armor, the Combat Assistant could make her much more capable in the field.

Meanwhile, in a large open space at the center of the temple, the leading blood hunter watched as four blood hunters loaded the artifact piece into a cart. He suddenly turned to the direction of the entrance.

"What?" A fellow blood hunter hissed. He didn't use any address because he and the blood hunter leading this party were of equal rank. That blood hunter was only the leader because he happened to be the one beside Nyon when he gave the order to retrieve the artifact.

"The warriors at the door are gone."

The second blood hunter held a straight face. He knew how difficult it was to be a supplicant of someone as powerful as Nyon, and the fact that twenty supplicant zealots were gone in seconds meant they were facing an enemy with incredible power.

"What is your command?"

"We will hold our ground and guard the artifact. Meanwhile, I will request for reinforcements from our master." Asking for help was shameful, but losing a piece of god's artifact is worse.

* * *

"My queen, overseers have located the Xel'naga shrine! It appears like Tal'darim forces are inside it. Shall we send landing parties?"

Inside Kerrigan's throne room, a broodmother suggested. The Swarm had the advantage in numbers. The more units they could send on to the ground and the more points of contact there were, the better it was for them. If they could send out a large amount of drop pods into the center of the Tal'darim lines, they might take heavy losses, but they would allow the zerg to break through much quicker. Plus, a boarding party could prevent the Tal'darim from evacuating the artifact as easily.

Kerrigan silently closed her eyes, and for a moment she shared the sight of the overseer closest to the Xel'naga shrine.

She spotted twenty Tal'darim zealots in front of the entrance. They seemed to be elite, but to someone like her it was just a matter of a few extra seconds.

"If I may, my queen, may I speak my doubt."

"Go on."

"Our overseers have spotted at least a thousand elite Tal'darim warriors, along with three giant walkers capable of immense destructive potential. If they are sent into battle, our losses will be amplified, but the Tal'darim commander chose to hide them." The broodmother paused and waved her claws. "He might be preparing for some trickery. I suggest we take caution."

"Your tactical mindset is on point, Zagara, but you have failed to consider factors outside the tactical ones."

"I don't understand, my queen."

"What do you know of the Tal'darim social structure?"

"Not much, my queen."

Kerrigan was in a good mood. "The Tal'darim have a rigid command structure known as the Chain of Ascension. The Highlord is at the top of the chain. The First Ascendant is slightly lower. The Second Ascendant is lower than the First. Ascendants can rise in the chain by defeating those above." She smirked. "It's to ensure only the strongest shall lead the Tal'darim. Such a foolish tradition. Countless elite warriors, died at the hands of their own people."

"Indeed, yet I don't understand how that is important."

Kerrigan sighed. Zagara was one of her most trusted lieutenants. Her viciousness intrigued her. Unfortunately, she wasn't as intelligent as Kerrigan had hoped. "The power of Ascendants lies in two things. Combat ability and supplicant army. If an Ascendant loses his supplicant army, he will be challenged and he will lose."

Zagara wasn't hopelessly dumb. After all, she was literally bred for war. "I understand. The Tal'darim commander wants to preserve his forces." She twisted her body in satisfaction. "The selfishness of the protoss will cost them their precious artifact!"

"Correct. Zagara, prepare to send…"

Suddenly, she stopped. Zagara realized something and connected onto another overseer relatively close to the shrine.

She saw five terran dropships and eight fighters approaching the shrine. The twenty zealots were instantly obliterated. The fighters and the dropships departed, but not without leaving a small terran strike team behind.

"Raynor!" Kerrigan held her teeth tight. She could still remember the last time when the man took the first artifact away from her. It was a blow to the head.

She wouldn't let that happen again.

At first she didn't mind hunting down Raynor and his rag tagged forces. She knew he, unlike the Tal'darim, wasn't burdened by the duty to protect the artifact and could escape whenever he needed to. Chasing after him would be a futile attempt.

But now the man was really taking his chances. Did he really think she was still the pathetic ghost agent that once slept with him? She was a changed woman, and just because she spared Raynor during the Brood War didn't mean she still cared about him.

If she needed to, she could blast Raynor to pieces without raising an eyebrow.

"Deploy the drop pods. Surround the shrine and wait for further orders. Kill anything that comes out." Kerrigan turned around and walked out of the throne room.

"My queen?"

"Prepare my drop pod. This time, I will get things done myself."

* * *

"Sixth Ascendant has answered my request. In his wisdom, he has decided to forgive our sins and has agreed to personally lead an army to come to our aid."

Suddenly, the sound of gauss rifles echoed through the empty temple. The deep groan of a blood hunter came in through the communication device.

"It's the sentry. The attackers are terran, and they have reached the gate."

One of the blood hunters realized. They posed four sentries at four key paths to the room the artifact was in. Their job was to delay, weaken, or even slaughter potential enemies that tried to come here with their cloaking ability and the element of surprise. The sound they just heard was the sound of one of the sentries dying. "They must have brought detection."

"Doesn't matter." The first blood hunter swung his scythe. "Prepare for battle. The Forged will slaughter them to the last."

Blood hunters were generally used as assassins, but that was by no means saying they could only fight enemies who couldn't retaliate. When necessary, they could charge against a hail of bullets into an army of enemies as well as every other zealot or ascendant. Whether or not they could survive the process was another thing.


	40. Chapter 40

Hundreds of zerg drop pods, sacs, smashed into the ground around the Xel'naga temple.

All three races had the ability to almost instantly deploy their ground units into battle. Terran had drop pods. Protoss could warp units into power fields. Zerg were similar to terran in that they used drop pods as well. Of course, there was some small difference in terms of how things actually worked.

When the zerg sacs hit the ground, the soft tissues acted as buffers and saved the units inside from being turned into jelly by the sheer impact. The inertia could still kill an unarmored terran, but every zerg unit, including drones, could withstand the blast with their bodies.

All sort of zerg units, roaches, hydralisks, zerglings, banelings, and even a few ultralisks, ripped through whatever sac tissue that were intact and broke free into the open. As soon as they were out, they spread out and surrounded the entire shrine. Nothing could get in or out without going through them.

When the scene was cleared, a large, orange sac hit the ground and punched a large hole as soon as it made contact. The Queen of Blades emerged from the dust.

As she moved, Kerrigan looked down on her dust-covered body and frowned in dissatisfaction. She held her fist tight, and a psionic wave emitted from her body and turned whatever dust or mud into basic atoms.

"My children, prepare entry to the shrine..."

Suddenly, she sensed one of the overseers being taken out. She connected to the last image the overseer saw and immediately realized what was going on.

"Get ready, my underlings. We have companies."

Zerg screeches echoed through the temple.

A distance away, a wall of Tal'darim approached. They were fresh and ready. Their blades and particle disruptors yearned for combat. Their enhanced plasma shields made those of normal zealots seem childish.

They were the supplicant army, and all of them would give their lives for Nyon.

The two armies clashed without a single word. There was no compromise. There was not a single chance of peace. Nyon needed to keep the artifact. If he lost it, his road to ascension would pretty much be gone. Even if he could live through the Swarm, Ma'lash would show him what was the price of failure.

Kerrigan wasn't yielding either. She didn't know of Amon's presence, but she did sense an entity controlling her, manipulating her. She would never admit it, but the Queen of Blades was scared. She was scared of the power strong enough to control her actions without even showing its face. She would do anything to take that entity down, and the xel'naga artifact was her best hope. She would do anything to seize it. If she was given a chance to exchange every single zerg ground unit on Xil for the artifact, she would gladly make the trade.

"Die, zerg scum!"

Nyon growled and beheaded a hydralisk, but when he look up he saw Kerrigan rip apart a zealot with her wings, snap the neck of another zealot, and dismember three slayers with the chain reaction of a psionic blast.

Neither plasma shields nor phasing armors saved these Tal'darim. At some point weapons and equipment at the personal level no longer mattered.

"Kerrigan!" The Sixth Ascendant yelled while sending another psionic orb into the zerg flanks. The destructive energy ripped two dozen hydralisks, zergling, and banelings to pieces before disappearing. When banelings died, the acid they carried were sent flying into zerg units around them, causing further damage.

Hearing the screeches of her underlings, Kerrigan wasn't intimidated by her opponent, who just slaughtered over thirty zerg with a single move. Instead, she bent her knees and suddenly kicked down on the ground. The impact sent her flying toward Nyon.

With her body in the air, Kerrigan pointed her spine wings down at Nyon. The purple psionic energy on the tip of the wings added to the already deadly limbs. Just the spines themselves could punch rip through a CMC armor without the slightest delay. With the help of the Queen of Blades' psionic energy, they could punch through almost anything.

Nyon crossed his red blades above his head and pushed forward as soon as the wing spines made contact. Kerrigan rotated in the air and landed in the Tal'darim formation, stepping on and crushing a havoc.

A ring of zealots couldn't believe what they saw, but when they saw an opportunity to strike down one of the strongest being in the sector, they took it.

Kerrigan swiped her bone wing around and severed the ring of zealots across their waists, killing all of them instantly. She didn't even look as the warriors collapsed and faded away.

"Face me, Kerrigan!"

To Nyon, twelve supplicant zealots cost more than fifty normal zealots. He was fine with them dying in combat, but seeing them get slaughtered like sheep by Kerrigan without any contribution at all was painful.

A mind blast formed in Nyon's palms and the ascendant smashed it into Kerrigan.

"If you wish, protoss."

The Queen of Blades heard Nyon's demand and sensed the void energy converging on her. She immediately responded by deploying her own psionic energy. Purple energy met with red energy between the two powerful psionic users.

Both Kerrigan and Nyon focused their energy on each other. A few zealots tried to strike down Kerrigan when she was busy dealing with Nyon, but Kerrigan's wings moved around and punched through plasma shields and protoss bodies alike.

This didn't intimate the protoss. Another dozen of zealots charged forward, and they were slaughtered one by one without their blades even reaching the queen. Slayers opened fire on Kerrigan from a safe distance away, but their particle disruptors were ineffective. Whatever damage they did was reduced by Kerrigan's carapace, and whatever damage that remained were canceled out by her mending abilities.

The Tal'darim zealots and slayers did very little real damage, but they did occupy some of Kerrigan's attention.

Even so, Nyon could barely maintain his position. The Sixth Ascendant was shaking inside as the battle dragged on.

The strongest entity he has seen was Highlord Ma'lash, but even Ma'lash was no match for Sarah Kerrigan. Nyon has heard of the power of the Queen of Blades, but a part of him didn't believe an infested terran could be this powerful. He thought the only reason she made her name was because of her swarm. Now he believed all the tales he heard with all his heart.

His plan of slaughtering Kerrigan in the field and using her blood to show his warriors his might was nowhere to be seen. Even with a constant flood of zealots, he could barely match Kerrigan in terms of psionic energy.

Sensing Nyon's fear, Kerrigan smirked and pushed forward. Immediately, the already thick wave of purple psionic energy became twice its former size.

The queen was crushing Nyon and murdering his elite supporters without using her full power.

"Wrathwalkers, now!"

Nyon screamed as he felt his psionic input being quickly overwhelmed.

He had no choice but to call for help. It wasn't exactly an honorable decision, but Nyon knew victory was the only truth that mattered. If he died, it wouldn't matter if he played it fair. If he won and slaughtered all that opposed him, the world would shut up about his dishonor.

Three balls of red came in from a distance away and smashed into where Kerrigan was.

The Queen of Blades groaned and jumped into the air, dodging all three shots. Wrathwalkers could take down ultralisks and blast support ships out of the sky. She should be able to deflect one, but three...even in the best scenario she would be wounded. It would be a pointless loss.

The three blasts hit the ground and exploded into a wall of fire, engulfing a couple unfortunate zealots that were too close.

Kerrigan landed in the midst of another Tal'darim horde. A blood hunter blinked and jumped behind her, attempting to take her by surprise, but she, almost without much effort, grabbed onto the warrior by her throat with one arm and brutally ripped her head off with the other hand. The scythe of the blood hunter, powered by the warrior's willingness to fight until the last breathe, cut across her chest and left a small mark, which quickly disappeared.

Despite being forced back, Kerrigan wasn't worried. In the air, the zerg fleet was gradually overrunning the Tal'darim ships.

Plus, a while ago, she has already sent a squad of elite zerglings, banelings, and hydralisks into the temple. Their mission was to slaughter the terran strike team and retrieve the artifact.

All she needed to do was hold her ground, and the artifact would be delivered to her.

* * *

A Warden reaper slammed a grenade onto a blood hunter and fell back and dodged his scythe swing. The Tal'darim tried to pursue, but the next second the anti-building grenade exploded. He collapsed with a hole in his chest.

That was the last of the supplicant blood hunters.

"All protoss units terminated. Awaiting for further command."

The blood hunters overestimated their power. They knew the terran had detectors, but detectors couldn't make them omniscient. These elite warriors lurked in the shadows as the Warden lines approached. When they saw an opportunity, they blinked into the middle of the terran units.

The plan was brilliant. Even the elitist troops would be taken by surprise when nine invisible enemy protoss combatants suddenly appeared right next to them. The blood hunters could easily mow through the ranged terran units with their melee scythe. Even if they couldn't massacre every single terran unit, they could take down most of them and render them useless to the approaching Tal'darim reinforcements.

The leading blood hunter was acting on experience. He has followed Nyon and fought through protoss, zerg, and terran alike, and he knew even supplicant zealots would be taken by surprise for at least a brief second. That was all his warriors needed to cut them down.

Unfortunately, the blood hunters didn't know the reinforcements they were so desperately counting on were being intercepted by the swarm. The only ones entering the temple would be zerg. Equally unfortunately, they also didn't realize they weren't going against anyone they've faced before. Their decision based on experience was stabbing them in the back.

As soon as the blood hunters blinked in, they weren't facing a group of shocked troops as they planned. Instead, they were being hailed by a hail of bullets and grenades.

Every blood hunter was knocked off his or her feet the moment their bodies materialized. The scythes that were so easy to swing around suddenly became painfully heavy. The effect of the concussive shells only lasted no more than a second before the blood hunters fought them off with void energy and sheer willpower, but that was enough.

 _"Dadadada"_

Marines opened fire and every single bullet that came out of their gauss rifles found their way into one of the blood hunters. Warden reapers acted according to their programming and backed off to a safe distance away after dropping a few chargers next to the blood hunters. Marauders stepped back and kept on sending grenade after grenade into their enemies.

Jean moved behind five Warden marines as soon as the blood hunters appeared. She was human and her reflexes were limited, but the Combat Assistant warned her as soon as the blood hunters appeared. Without hesitation or fear, she went behind cover as quickly as possible.

The blood hunters were ripped apart. Blood hunters weren't designed for a frontal assault. While the warriors themselves had the experience to conduct such a mission, the light plasma shields they were equipped with were designed to allow maximum agility while providing some protection. They were not nearly enough to fight off the Warden units.

Following a series of pained screams, the Tal'darim blood hunters collapsed and died. The blood hunter leader managed to severe a Warden marine in two with one quick swipe, but that was it. With one grenade explosion, his body faded away, along with any sense of glory or faith.

"Warden units, get the artifact loaded." Jean made contact with Raynor. "Sir, I have retrieved the artifact. I just need a way out."

"That might not be easy." Raynor looked down from the Hyperion at the two clashing armies. "The way you went in is being turned into a battlefield. You'll need an army to push through." His eyes twitched as he saw a yellow figure below. He knew who it was.

"I don't have an army."

"But, lucky for you, we have something better." Horner still held a tiny grain of salt against Jean. He knew her action was justifiable, but it was one thing to understand and it was another to act as if nothing happened. Jean disobeyed a direct order, and to someone who valued disciplined as highly as Horner this was difficult to forget. Still, he did the best he could to help her. His grudge didn't stop him from doing his job.

* * *

Nyon pushed Kerrigan back once again. His heart was sinking deeper and deeper with every minute that passed. Report just came in that another carrier and two more destroyers were taken down. Every second several zerg drop pods came down from the air and deployed fresh zerg reinforcements. With every second the battle dragged on the zerg were growing stronger and stronger.

His supplicant army, on the other hand, was being picked apart. His warriors were brilliant combatants, but they were getting exhausted and wounded, and their shields were being depleted. He didn't have any reinforcements to replace the fallen warriors.

Beside him, an ascendant sent a psionic orb he spent three minutes into the general direction of the zerg. An entire line was opened up in the dense zerg lines and over fifty zerglings and banelings were fried instantly.

The next second twenty spines hit the ascendant and killed him.

A distance away, a sea of green charged at one of the wrathwalkers.

"Protect the walker! For Nyon!"

Supplicant zealots and slayers tried their best to cover the precious strider. A few slayers blinked into the middle of the banelings and attempted to set as many of them off as possible. One of the slayers blinked inside and activated his phasing armor, and the next second ten banelings rolled in and exploded. His phasing armor allowed him to survive approximately two more seconds.

Zealots charged into the banelings one by one. At first their shields were the ones trading with the banelings, and then it was their bodies. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of the supplicant zealots.

The supplicants fought well, but they didn't have the numbers. Their sacrifice reduced the sea of bane to half its former size, but the rest were still able to slam into the wrathwalker.

The sound of the dozens of meter tall wrathwalker hitting the ground brought Nyon back to reality.

The Sixth Ascendant looked around. A few glances at the entrance to the Xel'naga temple told the ascendant the party he sent to retrieve the artifact has almost certainly failed. A small zerg army, over two hundred units, has streamed inside. It wasn't much because Kerrigan needed every zerg unit possible against the protoss, but it was still more than enough to take down ten blood hunters.

At this point Nyon was regretting sending a small party to retrieve the artifact, but even the Tal'darim didn't have the technology to go back in time.

"What are you looking at, ascendant?" In contrast to Nyon's frustration, Kerrigan was satisfied. She had already under control, right? As her mood improved, she decided to use words to distract his opponent. A worried ascendant was easier to be defeated than a patient one.

The words weren't the Queen of Blades' only weapon. Her spine wings slashed down and was followed by another psionic blast.

Nyon took a step back and barely fended off the attacks. Now that the artifact was surely gone, he toyed with the idea of pulling back and cutting the losses. He would still pay a dear price, but losing the seven hundred or so supplicant warriors left wouldn't help his case.

It turned out the decision was made for him.

Nyon suddenly noticed a large piece of shadow on the ground in front of him. Slightly confused, he looked up and saw a giant ship descending.

It was terran.

"Raynor!" Kerrigan immediately recognized the decision, but she didn't understand her former lover's decision. He had a group of operatives in the temple. So what? They should be long dead by now. Kerrigan was too busy fighting the Tal'darim to check out the units she sent into the shrine, but she didn't feel the need to. There was no way a small group of rag tagged terran infantry units could survive over two hundred elite zerg units.

Did Raynor really think risking every man under his command for a small squad of units was a good trade?

Kerrigan quickly realized it didn't matter. What really mattered was the fact that James Raynor was slamming his capital ship onto thousands of combatants, zerg and protoss alike.

* * *

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	41. Chapter 41

"Mothership, recall all supplicant units!"

Nyon ordered without hesitation. If he wasn't getting the artifact anyway, he didn't really mind who takes it. He would rather spend his attention on thinking how to save himself from the wrath of his own people. Ma'lash wouldn't be too happy about him losing two pieces of artifacts in a roll.

Nyon didn't know what he would do, but he did know he needed to save his supplicant army to have even a chance of surviving. With the supplicant army intact, he could still defeat most ascendants if he was to be challenged. Without the army, he would have no chance against a lower ascendant backed up by his own supplicant army. He was powerful, but he wasn't strong enough to fight an army just by himself.

As soon as the order was given, hundreds of light beams dropped down from the sky and consumed every single Tal'darim in the field. Even the wounded supplicants were brought back. They could still be used as pilots of vanguards or be turned to slayers.

Before Kerrigan knew it, the Tal'darim were gone and the Hyperion was rapidly dropping in altitude. It seemed like a large dot half a minute ago. Now it was covering half the zerg army.

"Raynor! You idiot." Kerrigan couldn't help but curse. "Take it down!"

Hydralisks faced upwards and, simultaneously, sent hundreds of spines into the air. A squad of forty mutalisks arrived as well and was immediately thrown toward the battlecruiser.

Just before the glaive worms and grooved spines could reach their target, a green layer of shield appeared and deflected all the projectiles. When the attack wave crashed into the matrix, the zerg attacks faded away while the defensive matrix stood tall.

The battlecruiser fought back. The full power of hundreds of laser batteries was unloaded on the zerg. Hydralisks were the priority targets as the batteries melted their armor and set their bodies aflame. The smell of barbeque covered the field, but no one with a sane mind would grow an appetite.

Mutalisks charged toward the defensive matrix and swung out another wave of glaive worms, but this time their attack took a toll.

A compartment on the battlecruiser facing the mutalisks was turned on. Forty missiles poked out of the pods and darted toward the mutalisks.

The zerg flyers tried to dodge the missiles, but it was too late. They were already locked onto. All forty missiles found their targets. A wave of explosions later, the only thing left in the air belonged to terran.

"Grrrr." Kerrigan growled. Normally she could easily obliterate that single ship, but her fleet was stuck with the Tal'darim. Nyon retreated back onto his capital ship and joined what was left of the Tal'darim fleet in orbit. They have already warped away a few seconds ago, but their presence was still enough to hold her leviathans in orbit. Even though they are gone now, she still needed time to bring the leviathans to the surface of the planet.

Small hordes of mutalisks and corruptors kept on arriving, but they were continuously blasted out of the sky by the Hyperion. Without the numbers, they were no match for the peak of terran technology.

The few ground units with anti-air capabilities needed an absolute advantage in numbers to even threaten the Hyperion, but just like the mutalisks, they didn't have those numbers either. Small waves of spines didn't even cause a dent on the shield.

Kerrigan formed a wave of purple energy in her claws and launched it at the battlecruiser. The blast hit the defensive matrix and was deflected as well, but inside the Hyperion Horner was looking at a computer screen and biting his lips.

"Shield integrity at 41%." He knew Kerrigan couldn't be allowed to unload freely. "All laser batteries focus fire on Kerrigan." The ship's Yamato Cannon was exhausted after firing nearly a dozen shots against the Tal'darim in such a small period of time.

The laser batteries weren't as effective as the Yamato Cannon, but one of their most powerful features was their numbers. One kilometer long, the Hyperion had hundreds of anti-ground laser batteries. They focused on the single yellow figure on the ground and started unloading.

Kerrigan jumped back one second before the projectiles landed on where she was and obliterated every zerg around that area. She could take a few dozen lasers, but hundreds of lasers every second could truly hurt her. Even she couldn't take on the Hyperion by herself.

The string of batteries chased after her and formed a trail of death behind her. Kerrigan jumped back and fired another blast at the Hyperion.

"Shield integrity at 31%." Horner was in awe. The entire zerg army around the temple took off around 49% of the energy of the defensive matrix, but just two hits from Kerrigan removed 20%.

Kerrigan felt the shields being weakened, but immediately she paid the price of her attack and took the brunt of half a dozen laser batteries. Her chest plating was burned red. Even she couldn't throw off a random blast and almost cripple the Hyperion. The two shots she just fired required time to be loaded, and she needed to stay still to do that. With the laser batteries coming after her nonstop, staying still meant being hit.

Acting quickly, Kerrigan jumped back and mended her wounds with her psionic energy. She looked around. Almost all the hydralisks were gone. Most of the zerg left were roaches, zerglings, and banelings, and the only thing they could do was cheer her on. Flyers came in all the time, but they didn't have the numbers to matter. She couldn't stop the Hyperion by herself without risking being heavily injured.

Frowning, the queen realized she was caught in a dilemma. If she backed off, the terran strike team would likely take the Keystone fragment away. If she kept on fighting, she would be risking herself.

It was a difficult decision, but Kerrigan quickly devised the best course of action. Even if the zerg units she sent into the shrine couldn't slaughter the zerg, they could at the very least delay them. It wouldn't take long for her to rally an army strong enough to take down the Hyperion, and once that happens, she would destroy the terran vessel. Without a way out, so what if the terran strike team gets the artifact? They will be stuck on a planet filled with zerg with no way out.

Infestation will be their only fate.

"Pull back, my children." She turned around and jumped away.

The elite zerg units retreated as well. The Hyperion kept on firing on the fleeing zerg and dropped another several hundred zerg.

"Jean, we have arrived. Where are you?"

* * *

Inside one of the paths of the temple, Jean fired her specialized gauss pistol twice and dropped a zergling. The bullets went directly into the zergling's yellow eyes and came out the other end.

The Warden strike team was going for the gate when they were intercepted by the assault party Kerrigan sent. Just like with the battle between the Tal'darim supplicants and Kerrigan's elite Swarm units, neither the Warden AIs nor the zerg felt the need to chat. Both sides fired the moment they noticed each other.

Marauders put themselves in front of their comrades. The Warden Command Units calculated that the well-protected marauders could take more damage compared to marines and reapers.

Marines and reapers stood behind and spread out in a formation so that banelings and other zerg melee units couldn't take out multiple Warden units in a single hit. Their armors were lighter, and they couldn't take as much punishment.

The two hundred or so zerg units were consisted of over a hundred zerglings, fifty banelings, and fifty hydralisks. They were facing several dozen Warden marines and a dozen or so reapers and marauders.

The battle didn't go well for the terran. Warden units had brilliant software. Their shots were precise and their moves were as efficient as possible. Unfortunately, the zerg, literally bred for war, weren't weak on that compartment either.

On the other hand, the zerg completely outdid the terran on the hardware. The zerg units present had the most upgrades, the best evolutions, and the most experience in combat. The most basic zerglings, for example, had metabolic boost, adrenal glands, shredding claws, and hardened carapace. They were the best of the best.

Warden units, as good as they were, were created from ordinary units. Warden marines were simply normal marine gadgets modified to fit an AI inside. This was the same with Warden marauders and Warden reapers. The modification allowed Warden units to fight even when their armors were fractured, but it didn't enhance the armors themselves. A single zergling could still rip through an CMC armor in a close quarter combat.

Jean knew that was a problem, but she had limited resources. She had the technology to make marines strong enough to take on a supplicant zealot in a one on one fair fight, but the number of resources that required was outrageous. She needed an army, not a small squad of special forces troopers.

Now this has become a problem.

Warden units opened fire. They were positioned so that every one of them could unload freely and every bullet could hit the enemies. Marauders hit the zerg units in the front with concussive shells and slowed down the entire horde. When the zerg finally got closer, a difficult thing to accomplish while being affected by concussive shells, KD-8 charges from reapers knocked them back and rendered their previous struggle useless.

Unfortunately, the hardware started to factor in. Even though they were charging into a hail of bullets, the zerglings in the front still stayed alive for a few seconds. This was impossible if the zerg were from a normal zerg brood or if the terran were from Dominion's elite.

Hydralisks were taller than zerglings. This allowed them to fire over the zerglings and hit the terran marines. Groove spines slammed into the marauders and marines and ripped them apart.

Warden AIs don't scream. They literally couldn't. Yet Jean could see the devastating effect of just one round of hydralisk spines on her forces through a line of data projected in the helmet of her armor.

A few more shots like these and the Warden squad she fought so hard to build would be gone.

She knew she needed to act.

Warden units retaliated, but against hydralisks with muscular augments and ancillary carapace, the amount of damage they did was insignificant.

A couple of banelings were mixed among the zerglings. Warden units targeted them before zerglings and banelings, but there were simply too many zerg.

Two banelings smashed into a Warden marauder and exploded. The marauder immediately lost one third of its armor. Its AI was still functional, to a degree, but another half a dozen groove spines changed that.

Jean tapped on her watch, and the next second 4 ARES, 89 sentry bots, and 24 eradicators appeared in front of her.

Jean was always a fan of keeping a few tricks up her sleeves. She knew she wasn't special. The several victories under her name, Agria, Monlyth, Meinhoff, and Haven, didn't mean anything. If she was shot, she would still die. If she was beheaded, she would still die.

She was able to logically assess her own weakness, and she developed countermeasures. The Combat Assistant was one of them, but it wasn't enough.

In Deadman's Port, after Jean helped Viper take down Orlan's mercenaries, she took the liberty of commandeering the warbots. Viper welcomed that decision with open arms. She and Jean were close, extremely close, but neither of them was the type that would completely trust someone else just because they slept together. Viper has seen what Jean could do to the warbots, and she didn't feel safe with these AIs around. She knew Jean would likely never do something to her, but she still felt uncomfortable. Jean removing these warbots was good for the interest of both women.

Jean put these warbots into her watch as a last resort. She wouldn't use it unless she absolutely needed to.

The warbots immediately changed the equation. Four ARES blocked the path and fired with every weapon they had. Napalm burners incinerated zerglings and banelings alike. Hydralisk spines did very little against the hardened armor of these ARES warbots. The 120mm cannon and T82 missile pods, on the other hand, were faced with little opposition. Tougher carapace didn't make the zerglings and hydralisks invincible to missiles and cannons.

Sentry bots and eradicators added to the terran firepower.

The Swarm was finally beaten back. They had the advantage in numbers, but they were stuck in a tunnel where most melee units had to sit back and wait. The hydralisks were ranged, but they were no match for the combined power of terran warbots and Warden units.

Dead zerg bodies covered the floor. The zerg kept on pushing forward, and they were continuously beaten back. Eventually, every single zerg unit in the tunnel was down.

As the Warden units execute the wounded zerg units, Jean turned to her earpiece. Horner was calling her.

"Jean, we have arrived. Where are you?"

"Just a few minutes away. All Warden units, advance." The girl returned the warbots into her watch and ordered her Warden units to keep moving toward the exit. She had no intention of explaining to Horner and Raynor how she managed to make an army of warbots appear out of nowhere.

The strike team ran for the exit.


	42. Chapter 42

"Sir, the zerg are regrouping for another assault."

A distance away, zerg units were massing. Mutalisks were already in the hundreds. The corruptor count was at two dozen. The Tal'darim fleet was gone, and the zerg flyers were swarming upon this position. Ground reinforcements came in as well. Apart from the supplicants, every Tal'darim warrior abandoned by Nyon was killed in battle. An army of over three thousand warriors, completely wiped out.

They fought till the last man and took down three times their number of zerg even though they were completely surrounded, outnumbered, and outgunned, but in the end the result was the same. The zerg lost tens of thousands of units, but these losses could be replenished with relative ease. Each Tal'darim, however, took centuries to become a warrior.

At this point the Hyperion could no longer maintain the peace. Previously the Hyperion wanted to secure the exit of the temple and the zerg didn't have the power to push forward, but now this has changed. The zerg had enough firepower to threaten the Hyperion, and Horner didn't need to use his brain to know Kerrigan wouldn't wait until Jean came out to launch the attack.

"Keep the warp drive online." Raynor didn't have a perfect way either. All he could do was wait and pray for the best.

Suddenly, as if Raynor's prayers worked, dozens of figures emerged from inside the shrine. Five dropships were already waiting there.

Jean and the Warden units, along with the Keystone artifact, entered the dropships. They immediately lifted off.

"Attack, my children! Rip them apart!"

The Queen of Blades saw the terran strike team appearing, and she knew she couldn't let them get away. Previously she didn't attack because she didn't have the forces and because she thought the zerg strike team she sent into the shrine were enough to wipe out or even cripple the terran. She was so busy fighting the Hyperion and then summoning her units that she forget to check on the status of the zerg she sent into the shrine.

That was another mistake. Kerrigan might have god-like power and was an experienced commander, but she could still make mistakes in the heat of the battle.

The zerg psionic network delivered the queen's order to every zerg present, and all of them charged toward where the Hyperion was with all the fury in the world. Zerg screeches covered the field.

The zerg organisms didn't care if they were zerglings or roaches and had no way of even scratching the battlecruiser. All they knew was they would do everything to serve their queen. Even if their only contribution to the battle was by taking a few laser batteries, they would still be serving their queen by wasting the enemies' ammunition.

In the air, all the mutalisks and corruptors approached and opened fire. Spores and glaive worms rained upon the lone terran vessel.

The Hyperion was immediately under attack from all fronts. If it was a standard issued battlecruiser in its place, it would be in pieces already, but the Hyperion, with its enhanced plating and weapons, held its ground.

The five dropships turned their engine to maximum power. They had a head start compared to the zerg and they were closer to the Hyperion than the zerg, but even so, they still weren't faster than hydralisk spines.

 _"Boom!"_

With a loud bang, one of the dropships exploded into a ball of flames. Twelve Warden marines and one Warden marauder were obliterated instantly. Luckily, it wasn't the one that held Jean and the artifact. Small groups of Warden units were replaceable.

"Sir, hold on to something! This is going to be a rough ride!"

The pilot tried her best to bring everyone on the ship to safety. Suddenly, the dropship shook violently. A spine found its way into the dropship's rear armor.

Jean sat quietly.

Luckily, it was a small distance, and the four dropships arrived into the hanger of the Hyperion safe and sound. All of them were fractured, but that was no longer a problem.

The dropship pilot was sitting in her seat and breathing deeply from the brush with death. Her uniform was soaked wet, and every inch of her muscle was shaking from fear, but Jean didn't have time to comfort her.

"Captain, get us out of here!" She touched her earpiece.

"About that, there's a problem."

In the bridge, Horner stared in a mixture of awe and horror at what was happening below.

A long ray of purple energy hit the rear plating of the Hyperion. The defensive matrix of the ship was offline a while ago, and the beam, along with all the zerg spines and spores, was burning its way through the armor.

That wasn't the only problem.

"Sir, we can't enter warp space! That energy beam is going to knock us off balance! We need to take it out before using the warp drive!"

Making something as large as a one kilometer long battlecruiser enter and exit warp space at the correct location was an extremely precise job. Protoss technology allowed their warriors to warp in and out while being attacked, but terran technology was less advanced. Perhaps spines and glaive worms didn't have the punching power, but there was no way a terran battlecruiser could enter warp space safely while being burned through by an energy beam without risking being tossed out in god knows where.

Even Horner was losing his cool. The situation was almost desperate. In order to get out of here he needed to take down Kerrigan, or at least delay her, but in order to do that he needed to send units out. The ship's Yamato Cannon was offline and the laser batteries were barely enough to hold back the Swarm. Deploying units into a swarm of zerg flyers and a sea of groove spines wasn't exactly ideal. They would lose half their numbers before they could even reach Kerrigan. Even if they reach Kerrigan, they can barely launch a round of missiles before being shot out of the sky.

Jean ran into the bridge. Light reflected off her sweat covered forehead. She just ran from the hanger to the bridge in around a minute. "What is the situation."

Horner didn't say anything. He was still holding a grudge, especially since Jean's decision might cause the destruction of Raynor's Raiders. Raynor was the one that did the explaining.

"We need to take down Kerrigan to use the warp drive, but under this circumstance…" He shrugged and gestured at outside the bridge's window. "sending men out there is suicide."

Jean's mind turned quickly. "How many vikings do we have left?"

"8, but they will never reach Kerrigan."

"That's debatable."

It took Raynor three seconds to understand what Jean meant.

* * *

Kerrigan grinned as she sensed the armor of the Hyperion falling apart. She could feel the fear and desperation of the crew members on the ship.

The battle was tilting in her favor. She calculated at most a few more minutes before the giant terran vessel fall. Once that happens, she would hold the artifact fragment she went through all the trouble for. In additional, she could kill every single Raider that was foolish enough to follow Raynor.

She would enjoy that. Killing Tal'darim was challenging, but it wasn't exactly satisfying. Against those fanatics, she would never have the pleasure of seeing the fear in the eyes. She could easily rip their bodies open, but she will only be answered by a crimson blade. Terran, on the other hand, would scream and beg and cry before they die.

The Queen of Blades always enjoys a nice sweet slaughter.

Suddenly, she sensed a dangerous feeling coming from above. At Kerrigan's level of power, she could vaguely sense it when her life was under threat.

But how? What on this planet could threaten her?

The Tal'darim were gone. The terran were a few more minutes away from death. She was in the midst of an entire army of zerg.

Looking up, Kerrigan saw eight figures coming out of the hanger of the Hyperion.

 _Eight vikings._

"What the..." Kerrigan suddenly smiled while maintaining the energy beam. "Ahhh, Raynor, Raynor, Raynor. Running out of options, huh? Sending eight vikings against an army of zerg?" She smirked. "Well, if you weren't foolish enough to challenge me, I might just let you live, but now…" Her eyes turned cold. "Push forward, my underlings, and rip those puny terran machines apart."

Mutalisks and corruptors converged, but the vikings made the move first. Under Kerrigan's toyful eyes, the vikings suddenly accelerated. Their engines were turned to maximum power, and these eight fighters charged straight at the xel'naga temple.

Mutalisks gave chase, but the vikings were simply too fast. Their engines were overloaded. This was extremely exhausting in terms of energy and damaging in terms of life expectancy of the engines themselves, but this was worth it. Vikings designed for frontal assault were outrunning the agile mutalisks. Even if the mutalisks could toss out a few glaive worms, they merely bounced off the rear plating of the vikings.

Kerrigan realized something was off. She knew Raynor. The man never gives up. If he was truly desperate and wanted to take down as many zerg to hell with him as possible, he would've kept the vikings around the Hyperion and fight under the support of the battlecruiser. If he sent these vikings charging at the temple, there must be a reason for it.

Kerrigan's mind turned. Why would he want to do that? What gain would he get by sending out a squad of fighters at a shrine that belonged to an ancient race of aliens? Maybe there's something in that shrine that he didn't want her to see? Maybe there's something in the temple that could turn the tide of the battle?

The Queen's mind wandered, but as the vikings came even closer, she suddenly realized she went down the wrong direction.

The vikings weren't coming for the shrine. They were here for her.

Upon making the understanding, Kerrigan, surprisingly, relaxed. Raynor was thinking outside the box, and it took her by surprise, but he was indeed desperate. Killing her would certainly save the Raiders, but did he really think a squad of eight vikings could go through all the zerg flyers and ground units and take her out? Even if they managed to reach her, and assuming she didn't attack or move away, it would take the vikings a few volleys to even significantly injure her, much less kill her.

The hydralisks and mutalisks could kill the vikings much quicker.

If a squad of vikings could kill her, then she didn't deserve the name of the Queen of Blades.

Under Kerrigan's mocking eyes, the vikings approached her position. Hydralisks opened fire. Two of the vikings was caught in the sea of spines. A spine hit a viking, going through the hardened glass of the cockpit as well as the chest of the pilot. Another viking's engine was hit. The fighter exploded into a ball of flames.

The vikings kept on charging. They were putting Kerrigan into their missile range, but they showed no sign of slowing down and taking aim with their weapons.

Kerrigan's eyes went wide. She suddenly had a faint idea.

The six vikings left charged at Kerrigan with full speed. One of the pilots sighed. She glanced back at the Hyperion before turning back. A determined look appeared in her eyes.

"For the freedom of mankind."

She silently whispered.

"No! Cover me!"

Kerrigan's eyes widened as she tried to summon her underlings. She pulled back the energy beam and formed a shield in front of her, but it was too late.

One by one, the six vikings crashed into the Queen of Blades. All the vikings carried missiles and explosives that were modified to make the vikings a giant bomb. As soon as first viking hit Kerrigan, it exploded into a ball of flame that consumed everything in a two hundred meter radius.

Then came the second.

And then the third.

The purple energy beam was gone, and the Hyperion was free to enter warp space.

"Matt, get us out of here." Raynor said quietly. He wasn't as cheerful as a man that just escaped death should be. He glanced at Jean, who remained quiet.

Horner nodded at the crew members, and a few seconds later the Hyperion disappeared.

* * *

The explosion of the six vikings punched a giant hole in the ground. The amount of explosives used in such a small area had an astonishing effect.

All six vikings went directly for Kerrigan. The resulting explosion wiped out every single zerg unit in the two hundred meter radius of the queen. It didn't matter if it was an ultralisk or a zergling. It didn't matter how much carapace these units had. The fact was all of them were blasted into pieces.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the layer of debris.

Kerrigan was hit hard. Her left wing was snapped. Half her body was melted. Her claws were almost broken. Her tentacle hairs weakly rested behind her head.

"Raynor!" The queen screamed weakly. She tapped her temple, and ten hydralisks that survived the previous battles slid to her. Almost simultaneously, they started hacking at each other.

Blood splattered the ground. Kerrigan didn't move. Ten drones moved up and started cutting at the flesh of the dead hydralisks before delivering them to Kerrigan. It was as if they simply brought her a snack.

The queen grabbed onto a piece of hydralisk meat and put it into her mouth. A few seconds later, her wounded body parts were growing back. Spines reappeared on her back. Broken carapace were replaced by new ones.

As she ate, Kerrigan went over what happened again.

Raynor just ordered eight vikings to kamikaze into her. The explosion of the payloads these fighters held wounded her and disturbed the energy beam she used and allowed the Raiders to escape.

Frankly speaking Kerrigan was surprised. Raynor was completely against the idea of sending men to die in the name of victory. When Arcturus Mengsk abandoned her on Tarsonias, Raynor didn't hesitate to break away. The fact that he and Kerrigan were close was one thing, but a more important reason was that he realized Mengsk was not a hero he appeared to be. How come he thought that? Because he abandoned Kerrigan.

It surprised Kerrigan that the righteous man was doing something he despised so much.

War really changes people.


	43. Chapter 43

The Hyperion appeared in the familiar scene of Deadman's Port.

The bridge was dead silent. Jean realized both Horner and Raynor were glancing at her with a look unfamiliar to her. Neither of them showed any sign of being pleased by what could be called as a victory.

"Ahh, boys, I'll take the artifact to meet the Moebius."

Even Tychus realized something was off. He used the artifact as an excuse and quickly departed.

Raynor nodded before turning to Horner. "Check the casualties." He ignored Jean, just like he has been ever since they left Xil.

Jean stood still as the captain worked. The calm look on her face wasn't affected by Raynor's decision to keep her on ice.

The casualty report quickly came out.

200 infantry marines, Mar Saran and Agrian, entered the battlefield. 147 returned.

114 war pigs entered battle. 78 came back.

43 hammer securities were turned to 26.

All 19 mercenary reaper guards remained intact. They remained with Jean through the battle and were never put into combat.

All 11 vikings were killed in action.

2 of the 4 goliaths were destroyed. The rest were heavily damaged.

There were 73 Warden marines, 10 Warden reaper, and 20 Warden marauders that landed on Xil. Now there were 34, 4, and 5, respectively.

Out of the three siege tanks the Raiders recovered on Xil, two survived.

That was one of the most painful battles the Raiders have fought. The Raiders lost almost one third of their units. The viking squadron was completely wiped out. The Warden units were crippled.

The hull of the Hyperion was heavily damaged. Repairing it would take time and money.

Yet Jean considered what happened as a good trade. The Moebius Foundation offered 250,000 credits for the artifact fragment. They were worth around 50,000 minerals.

That was a lot of minerals. A battlecruiser costed around that number of minerals. In other words, the Raiders just traded a few men for a capital ship powerful enough to conquer a small planet just by itself.

Jean would make that trade anytime, but apparently the rest of Raider High Command didn't share her opinion.

Jean recognized the look Raynor and Horner were giving her. It was a mixture of disbelief, shock, and fear.

They were afraid of what she just did.

Back on Xil, when Jean came up with the idea of sending every single viking to a certain death, Raynor looked at her like she just announced she was a zerg.

"I would never send my men down there to die. That's how Arcturus does things, not us." Those were his exact words. "We will find another way out."

But Jean wasn't counting on another way.

Jean understood the reasoning behind the man's response. After all, she knew all about what happened to Kerrigan, but she didn't care if the man had a good reason. All she knew was every cell in her body demanded her to gain power, and she couldn't gain anything if she was dead.

So Jean did something rather cruel. Without telling Raynor or Horner, she opened up a channel to the viking pilots and informed them what the situation was. For some men she appealed to their honor and loyalty. For others she promised a giant paycheck to their next of kin. For the rest, she used threats on their families and friends.

Raynor only knew about what was happening after the vikings left the hanger, which was also opened up under Jean's command. Now that things were already done, Raynor had no choice but to go along with this plan and prepare to evacuate the ship.

In the end, she got the Hyperion out, but she also lost the trust she worked so hard to build between her and Raynor. Everything she gained in half a dozen major battles was practically gone.

Sending men and women to certain death was one strike. Giving orders and deploying combat units behind her commander's back was another. She was certain Raynor wouldn't arrest and execute her, but likely she would be kept away from the major chain of command.

That was unfortunate, but it was a worthy price to pay. Jean didn't feel any regret or anger. She merely calculated how it would affect her plan and how she could use it to her advantage.

"I'll be at the port. Call me when you need me."

She turned and walked out of the bridge without a single sense of hesitation. If she couldn't do anything in the Raiders, she might as well put her effort in somewhere she could.

As the girl left, Horner and Raynor looked at each other quietly.

* * *

Jean let out a loud moan and fell on her back. Her body sank into the soft bed.

Beside her, Viper ran her fingers through her sweat-soaked blonde hair. Her eyes wide open.

"That was...hot." The ghost whispered in what could be described as awe.

Jean smiled and sat up in the bed and started to dress herself. As she put her shirt on, Viper slid her arm behind Jean's back. Jean smiled before falling back into the bed, to Viper's satisfaction.

The two laid there for a while. The room was quiet before Jean suddenly spoke up.

"I need a ship."

She was fairly certain Raynor wouldn't make a move on her, but after what she did she doubted he would give her command of the Raiders again. If she stayed on the Hyperion, there would be nothing she could do.

Viper nodded. "I'll give you a battlecruiser and all the crew members aboard. Is that enough?"

"One battlecruiser is just the right amount. What do you want in return?"

Viper sighed. "Just consider this as a favor. Not everything has to be a deal."

Jean didn't answer.

Viper bit her lips. She was willing to be more than just Jean's ally and occasional sex partner. Ever since she broke free of the effect of the neural inhibitor, Jean was the first person she met. As sad as it was, Jean was her first and only friend. She wanted them to be closer.

Unfortunately, the fact that Jean didn't say a word meant she wasn't accepting that offer.

This was one of Jean's few problems. She could observe those around her and do her best to act emotionally. She could sleep with others and pretend that she loved them. The problem was when it came to things more subtle, things that couldn't be deducted by logic or experience, things like these concealed hints of love, she was completely ignorant.

"A group of mercenaries, Kane's Plunderers, has messed with the wrong person. Help me take him out. We'll split the loot. You can get the warbots."

"Fair enough." Jean sat back up. "We should move now…"

Suddenly, both Jean and Viper acted swiftly. Jean wiped her right hand on her watch and took out two gauss pistols modified so she could use without a CMC armor. Viper jumped from the bed to a shelf and snatched her C14 sniper rifle. Both girls turned to a corner.

There, stood a Tal'darim blood hunter. Realizing he was discovered, he exited cloak mode.

"I'll find out who designed the orbital defense network and I'll make him pay."

Viper muttered. Her chamber was supposed to be one of the most heavily defended place on the platform. After she and Jean infiltrated the platform and assassinated Orlan without much difficulty, Viper worked hard to prevent the same thing from happening to her. She not only remotely ordered the mercenaries to set up much more layers of defenses but also hired a group of elite mercenaries as her personal guards. Still, none of that stopped the Tal'darim covert assassin from just walking in to her room.

If Viper didn't sense the blood hunter as soon as he entered and psionically alert Jean, there was no telling how long the blood hunter could stand there without being detected.

"Don't blame your underlings, terran female." The blood hunter said nicely. Jean noticed his scythe, while in his grip, wasn't lit. It was an odd thing to see for a Tal'darim.

Meanwhile, the blood hunter continued. Jean could tell he wasn't doing this intentionally, but the provokingness in his tone remained. It was literally a habit.

"After all, your people are savages. Your puny technology is no match for the might of the Tal'darim."

Viper groaned impatiently. "What are you doing here?" If it was someone else she wouldn't bother with the questions, but a blood hunter was not an easy foe. She wouldn't start a fight with him without absolutely needing to.

Luckily, she didn't absolutely need to.

"Relax, terran. I am not your enemy. I am merely a messenger."

"A messenger? For whom?"

The blood hunter tossed a circular object on the ground in front of the two women. A figure was projected into the air.

Viper lowered her weapon and eyed Jean. She herself didn't know any Tal'darim, so this message must be for Jean.

"Ascendant Nyon." Just like Viper imagined, Jean recognized the figure.

The Ascendant seemed to be in a worse condition than the last time he and Jean talked. The last time they met, Nyon was the warlord that controlled an entire fleet and a powerful ground army. He executed dozens of terran prisoners in front of the eyes of the Raider High Command. The entire Raynor's Raiders was at his mercy.

Now, the warrior seemed defeated. Nyon tried to cover it, but Jean could see some fractures on his armor and some wounds on his body.

"Terran female." Nyon spoke again, but he suddenly realized he had no idea what Jean's name was. "What is your name?"

Previously he never felt the need to ask for Jean's name. After all, he was sure she was going to die and asking for her name would be pointless, but now things have changed.

"Jean. Jean Turner."

"Well, Jean." Nyon toyed with the name and eyed Viper. "We might want to talk in somewhere private."

"I trust her." Jean looked at Viper sweetly. Viper smiled but still stared at the blood hunter in alert.

"Don't seem so confident. Your mating partner might betray you. One of mine did."

Jean looked at Viper, smiled, and turned back to Nyon. "What you want to tell me, you can tell her."

"Fine. Just don't regret it." Nyon did his typical smirk. "I am offering you a deal."

"I'm listening."

"I propose an alliance." Nyon held his right arm out in a persuading fashion. "You have just defeated an army with one at least twenty times smaller. Even as your enemy, I am impressed."

Jean nodded.

"Imagine what we can do with your tactics and my army. We will be unstoppable. Together, we can conquer the entire sector. The Swarm. The Daelaam. Other Tal'darim Ascendants. Ma'lash." As he said the last name, his mind was on something else. Someone else...but he left that part out. "We can even deal with your terran foes. I can make you the Highlord of your people."

"It's Queen, by the way." Jean subtly reminded. "But do you mind telling me why I should trust you? The last time we met, you tried to kill me."

"And now I need you." Nyon said casually. In the Tal'darim world, the identity of friends and enemies could be easily exchanged. When someone became useful, they could be friends. When someone outlived their usage, their death would be within a short countdown away.

Jean kept on looking at him, waiting for something more. Nyon decided he needed to give more information.

"After what happened on Xil, I realized I needed change. I am powerful, but, as painful as it is to admit, I am not the strongest. I need more than brute force to ascend. So, I set my eyes on you."

"The female warrior that slaughtered one-third of my forces and escaped with the item I am destined to protect. I can easily slaughter you in a duel, but when it comes to commanding armies, you have a strength I do not have. I need that strength."

Jean nodded, convinced. "How exactly should we collaborate? You are on...I presume Slayn. You know where I am at. We are half a sector apart."

"Keep this communication device with you. I will contact you when I need your advice. In return, I will provide military aid whenever you need them." Nyon said generously. "As a show of my sincerity, I have sent twenty blood hunters to you in a cloaked transport. They will follow your command and act as your bodyguard. They will kill anyone you wish...except me, of course."

Jean nodded. She wasn't surprised. That sounded like a precious gift, but Jean knew the blood hunters were in fact spies working for Nyon. No doubt they, while protecting her life, would tell the ascendant everything she did. If Nyon wanted it, these blood hunters would turn on her in a heartbeat.

Still, she was fine with it. A squad of twenty blood hunters was a force to be reckoned with. In a good position, it could take down a small army. They might be working for Nyon, but she was certain she could use them.

As the communication ended, Jean turned to the blood hunter, who hesitantly lowered his head in obedience.


	44. Chapter 44

"Please! You're a mercenary, right? I can pay you! Whatever your boss paid you, I can triple that!" A man cried before his head abruptly exploded. Around him was a ring of dead marines.

"Sorry, but even mercenaries have a code of honor, not that you seem to know that."

Viper lowered her gauss sniper rifle and quietly walked out of the room. She didn't meet anything resembling resistance on the way. In the background, Jean has scrambled all communication between the mercenaries. Unlike Orlan, this Kane didn't have great computer support. Jean broke in and started trashing the security network of the place without receiving any problem.

Without the detectors, the mercenaries couldn't even see Viper. The ghost simply walked past a group of marines with spikes on their helmets and armors without having to fire a single shot.

Walking by another squad of marauders, Viper entered a dropship equipped with a cloaking field. The ship lifted off as the mercenaries' missile turrets and orbital defenses simply sat by and watched.

"Now I understand why that protoss want to work with you." After reuniting with Jean on Isaac's platform, Viper joked. "Things get really easy with you backing me up."

Jean smiled. Suddenly, she felt her earpiece buzzing. She touched it.

"Lieutenant Turner, the Hyperion is heading out for another mission." It was Horner, but he sounded like he was keeping a distance. Usually he called Jean by her first name. Now he was using her rank and her last name.

"Copy that. I will be back soon." Jean closed the comm and turned to Viper. "I need to go."

Viper rose her eyebrows. "Didn't you say you've had a fallout with the Raiders? You can stay with me. Together, we will be unstoppable, and if we work together with that protoss, we will be victorious." She licked her lips as if she suddenly remembering something appealing.

Jean shook her head and refused the tempting proposal. The Raiders still had their usage. She could get more from them before she decides to abandon them.

* * *

 _The Hyperion. Bridge._

Jean walked into the bridge. She received a lot less welcome than she did a few days ago.

It has been four days since the Raiders came back from Xil. Raynor spent the credits Tychus brought back on enhancing the Raider forces.

"I have hired a squad of hell's angels, ten elite vikings. They cost 10,000 minerals, but they are worth the price." Raynor started.

"Experience against zerg and terran alike. I'm sure they will be useful." Horner nodded. "Nice choice, sir. What else?"

"200 war pigs for 10,000 minerals. The war pigs we hired fought well in past battles, and we can certainly use more men like them." He saw Horner nod. "10 siege tanks and 50 hammer securities."

"That adds up to 30,000 minerals. What about the 20,000 left?"

"About that," Raynor turned to Jean. "I will need you to program the Warden units, lieutenant." He still sounded a bit bitter. That was reasonable. After what happened, Jean doubted the relationship between him and her would ever go back to normal.

As her mind turned, Jean nodded. "Actually, I am working on developing a method to clone the codes. All you have to do is have the codes of one Warden unit and then you can copy the code to all the units of the same type. How many units do you want?"

"100 Warden marines and 50 Warden marauders."

"Affirmative." Jean agreed. "However, I think we should take a trip to Redstone. There should be some fresh Warden units stacked up there. We can use them in the oncoming fight."

Apart from being a mining planet, Redstone also acted as a manufacturing facility. Jean left a group of Warden SCVs programmed to use the minerals they mined to build other Warden units. These SCVs worked 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It has been quite a while since they started mining, and Jean expected to see some results.

Raynor nodded. "I'll dispatch a transport."

"I've got a ship, but thanks." Jean said quietly before walking out of the bridge.

* * *

A mercenary fashioned battlecruiser exited warp space in the orbit of Redstone.

The ship included around 500 crew members and 300 security forces. That was around the minimum amount of personnel required to effectively control a ship as large as the battlecruiser.

However, all of those crew members and security forces were sent to their rooms. All the windows were shut close so that the crew members and security forces didn't know where they were.

After all, these men were mercenaries. They were only here because Viper ordered Isaac to order them to follow Jean. If they were allowed to see the coordinates of a mining planet as rich and as defenseless as Redstone, some of them might do something unhonorable. Redstone held hundreds and thousands of minerals, and Raiders only had two ships. They were only able to hold the planet because no one else, except Tosh, knew its coordinates. If just a single mercenary decide that a life of wealth and comfort was worth more than his code of honor, he or she might go to some mercenary leader and offer a deal.

The coordinates of Redstone for a number of credits.

Jean couldn't take the risk, so she sent the crew members away and controlled the ship with the adjutant. Without the crew members, the ship lost most if its combat capabilities, but it wasn't like Jean needed to fight anyone right here right now.

However, there was someone here that Jean didn't expect to see.

"Hey, Jean." Swann might be the only person who didn't distance himself from Jean. "We need to talk."

"We could've talked back on the Hyperion. There's no need for you to come all the way here just to speak to me." Jean reasoned as the battlecruiser started dropping in altitude.

"I need to talk to you about what happened on Xil."

"Ahh...I see. Did Raynor send you?"

"No." Swann denied. "Now, listen to me, Jean. You are a clever girl and a brilliant commander, but you have made a mistake, and you need to understand it."

"A mistake?" Jean put on a pissed off mask. "I saved the Hyperion! I saved everyone on this ship! I did what I had to do."

Swann's approach was unexpected, but Jean stuck to her plan. She carefully played the part of an officer who held a grudge against Raynor.

After all, that was the reasonable reaction. She didn't consider others as fools. If she acted as if nothing happened, people might wonder what she was up to.

"Yes, but you have also sent Raiders to die. Those viking pilots trusted you with their lives, and you failed them."

"For a good cause."

"Perhaps, but that's not how Raiders do things." Swann sighed, realizing there was very little he could do. He was only speaking because he recognized a divided Raider command might weaken the overall strength of the Raiders. He trusted both Raynor and Jean understood it, but both were stubborn.

The battlecruiser landed in the Warden base. Jean looked out the window and saw hundreds of SCVs moving around. Some were cutting down mineral patches and bringing them to a platform in the base, where they were either assembled into other Warden units and SCVs or put into storage.

Warden units, mainly marines and reapers, patrolled the base in groups of five.

"Here," Jean handed Swann a hard drive. "The standardized programming of all Warden units, including Command Units. This way, you don't need me around."

Swann opened his mouth. Jean was speaking as if she was going to die anytime, but before Swann could say anything Jean was already walking out of the bridge.

* * *

"Command Unit C004. Report!"

"Affirmative. Accessing data now." The Warden command unit started calculating. "60000 units of minerals harvested. 10000 units have been put in storage. The rest has been spent on constructing Warden units."

"The following units have been produced. 500 SCVs. 200 Warden marines. 50 Warden reapers. 50 Warden marauders. Among them, 70 Warden marines, 20 Warden marauders, and 20 Warden reapers have been put in the storage. The rest are put on mining and patrol duty. Over."

"Load the idle units into the battlecruiser. Stop producing SCVs and use the resources to produce combat units." Jean suddenly took out a scanner device and made sure she wasn't being watched. As the area was cleared, she turned back to the command unit.

"Execute Protocol BSHFKS8392."

The Warden Command unit stayed silent for one second before suddenly lowering its head. "Warden Unit C004 at your command, _Creator_."

When Jean coded the Warden AIs, she added something of her own. Among them was a protocol that could make the Warden units see her as the highest authority. As soon as that protocol was enabled, the Warden units would do anything she said. If she told them to walk to Raynor and put a bullet in his head, they would.

"Report on order HA001."

Redstone held enough minerals to make an army. Jean wasn't going to let that go just like that. When she deployed the Warden units in the base, she used the Creator Protocol and ordered the Command Unit to take a portion of the Warden units created in the base and put them in a secret storage. Instead of being merged into the Raiders forces, these units would be put into her watch.

In order to cover it up, she altered the number of minerals collected by the SCVs and the overall unit count created. This way, she could add these Warden units to her watch without anyone knowing about it.

"Affirmative. 50 Warden marines, 15 Warden marauders, 15 Warden reapers, and 1 Warden Command Unit are ready for your orders, Creator."

Jean nodded. "Show me."

As Jean put all 81 Warden units into her watch, she returned to the mercenary battlecruiser. The Warden units that belonged to the Raiders were in the vessel as well.

The battlecruiser lifted up into the air.

* * *

Inside the bridge of the Hyperion, Raynor looked out the window down on Deadman's Port. He inhaled from his cigarette fiercely. The wave of smoke clouded his face.

"Sir, I asked Mira about what Jean might be doing in Deadman's Port." Horner walked up behind him.

After Xil, Raynor realized Jean might not be the warm-hearted lieutenant he thought she was. For the sake of himself and the Raiders, he decided to learn more about her. Previously he didn't care what Jean was doing in Deadman's Port because he trusted her, but now he was a bit worried. Horner volunteered to ask his wife for some information.

Mira Han was one of the strongest mercenaries in the port. Mira's Marauders dominated the place. She even had an army of rogue Confederate ghosts, dozens of them, under her command. If someone could find out what Jean was up to, it would be the one eyed mercenary.

"Jean has made some friends during her time at the port. A ghost called Viper." The captain explained. "There's something weird about it. A few days ago Colonel Orlan, head of Orlan's mercenaries, mysteriously died. His lieutenant Isaac took over the mercenaries. Apparently, Isaacs welcomed Viper as his guest and gave her shelter and protection. Jean's battlecruiser also belonged to Isaac." He handed Raynor a computer screen with more details.

Raynor nodded. "It seems like we have underestimated Jean." He wasn't stupid. There was no doubt Jean played a part in Orlan's downfall. He glanced down at the computer screen and saw that Orlan died at the exact days when Jean was in the port.

Horner hesitated. "What should we do about her, sir?" By doing things behind Raynor's back, Jean was practically betraying the Raiders.

"Jean and I, we are not the same type of people." Raynor stood for a few seconds before finally concluding.

At this point, if it was Mengsk, he would find an opportunity to kill Jean and take over her ship and her forces, but Raynor wasn't Mengsk.

"I will find a chance to talk to Jean. Make the things clear. I believe she will understand. This doesn't have to conclude in a battle."

Suddenly, five battlecruisers exited warp space a distance away from the Hyperion. The Raider crew members immediately went into battle position.

Raynor's Raiders weren't exactly the most welcomed people in the sector. Arcturus Mengsk might want to keep Raynor alive because he didn't want Raynor to be seen as a martyr, but that might change anytime. As far as Horner knew, the Dominion might send a fleet to Deadman Port anytime and silence Raynor permanently.

"Sir, they're not the Dominion." Horner eyed the spikes placed around the ships. Efficient and standard issued, Dominion vessels would never have these pointless decorations.

Raynor groaned. These ships were obviously mercenaries. They were moving toward his ship, but he didn't want to fight them if he didn't have to.

"Send out a transmission to their ship."

The transmission went through in half a minute.

"Unknown vessel, state your identity...oh, it's you." Matt Horner recognized the man on the other side. After all, he has met him before. He has even worked with him before.

It was Tosh. Gabriel Tosh.


	45. Chapter 45

"That's odd." Inside her own ship, Jean saw five more battlecruisers than she expected to see.

"Sir, what is your order?"

The captain of the battlecruiser asked with his head lowered in respect. He has worked with quite some employers, but he has never been this polite. However, when he was sent on this mission, Isaac personally talked to him and ordered him to follow every order Jean gives. If she wants him to sacrifice himself, he should do it without a second thought for the sake of his family.

The captain had no choice but to comply. Isaac was even worse than Orlan. Orlan was ruthless, but Isaac was brutal. The blood of the dozen or so mercenary leaders that stood against him was the best example. If he disobeyed, he had no doubt Isaac would terminate both him and his family.

Ever since Jean got on his ship, he did everything she wanted no matter how strange or irrational they sounded. When Jean ordered all crew members to return to their chambers, he even punished a couple mercenaries who refused to obey.

"There is no sign of conflict. Captain, standby. Officer, open up a transmission to the Hyperion."

One of the mercenaries at the bridge looked at the captain, who nodded. He only complied when he saw the nod.

"Sir," Jean saluted as Raynor's face appeared on the screen. Technically she was still an officer in Raynor's Raiders. "I have retrieved the Warden units and minerals."

"Lieutenant...Jean," Raynor hesitated. "Bring the transports to the Hyperion. Meanwhile, join us in the bridge. We have another mission."

Jean nodded as the communication was turned off. After giving the mercenary captain an order, she exited the bridge and walked toward the hanger.

Her squad of reaper guards followed her. The reaper captain was right on her heels.

* * *

"Jean, you have met Tosh before." In the bridge, Raynor introduced Tosh to Jean.

Jean nodded and smiled. The Raiders have done business with Gabriel Tosh before, but Raynor was mostly in charge of that.

"Tosh, this is lieutenant Jean Turner. She is one of my most trusted officers."

Raynor was planning on separating with Jean, but Tosh just gave him a quick briefing about the mission he wanted the Raiders to go on. Turned out the enemy was one of the few forces Raynor was actually afraid of fighting. In fact, he has barely escaped from them a few days ago.

The Tal'darim.

At first the man considered refusing to go on the mission, but Tosh offered him something he couldn't refuse.

Tosh promised to join him and provide him with psionic support in exchange for his help.

Raynor knew the help of psionic warriors was something he desperately needed. Without his own ghosts, Dominion stealth operatives could easily sneak onto the Hyperion and take him or other Raiders out anytime. The Raiders needed to constantly be on full alert. If they let their guard down, they might find themselves with a crippled ship, a dead commander, and a lot of destroyed mech.

Even in a frontal assault, ghosts could snipe down Raider officers and disable Raider mechanical units. All of that would change if he could gain the support of Tosh and his so called spectres.

He had no choice but to say yes.

Knowing the strength of the Tal'darim, Raynor knew he needed every ship he could get. It just so happened that Jean had a battlecruiser. If he could push the awkward talk after the mission, he could still have the help of the mercenary battlecruiser during the mission.

As much as he disliked Jean now, he decided to work with her for a while longer. His discomfort was nothing compared to the possibility of failing the mission and losing precious brothers and sisters in arms.

"Miss Turner."

Tosh shook hand with Jean, but as the large spectre touched Jean's hand, his mind was turning quickly.

Raynor was acting all nice to Jean, but he sensed something from him. It was as if he was trying to hide something. His eyes twitched. He might be able to use this to his advantage.

"Tosh, tell us more about the mission." Raynor turned to Tosh. The latter nodded and pulled up an image of a planet. Jean could see dense purple smoke circulating around the world.

"Bel'Shir. It holds a gas called terrazine. I need those gas." The spectres introduced concisely. He was a trained special operative, and his words were short and concise.

"And the defenders?"

"Tal'darim protoss. They are fanatics, but I think you have already seen that first hand." Jean rose her eyebrows. She realized Tosh was discreetly telling them he has set his eyes on the Raiders a while ago. It was hardly a threat. If anything, it was just Tosh saying he has a source of information.

"Exactly how many of them are there?"

"A standard sized Tal'darim fleet. Scouting party reported four carriers and eight destroyers."

"We don't have the ships." This time the Raiders didn't have the backing of the swarm. They needed to take the full brunt of the Tal'darim.

"I've got five ships. All of them are top notch and are piloted by the best crew members in the port. That makes seven cruisers in total. My spectres will also aid our mission. I have hired an army of mercenaries as ground support." Raynor didn't know it, but although most of Tosh's spectres were locked up in the Dominion maximum security prison at New Folsom, Tosh still have some of his people left. They were short in numbers, but they could be extremely effective in a good position. "If you and I work together, brother, we can win this."

Raynor nodded. "Fair enough. We should all get our forces ready." He checked a file. "My forces will need at least two more days to be ready. Does your mission have a time requirement?"

"No."

* * *

After Jean returned to her own ship, she went to her own room. Even her reaper guards were sent to a distance away. For the moment, Jean was completely by herself.

Doing another full scan of the surrounding just to make sure, Jean took out the hologram projector the blood hunter gave her.

She turned it on with a light tap.

On the other end, Nyon sensed the communication device buzzing. He waved his hand, and the dozen or so supplicants standing guard in the chamber backed off. It's not that he didn't trust them. He just didn't feel like doing a conspiracy with a crowd watching.

"Jean." He stated. "What is it?"

"I need a piece of information from you." Jean said. "Bel'Shir. Which ascendant does it belong to?"

Nyon seemed surprised. "Why? What do you want from it?"

"Answer my question first."

"Me. Now, tell me why you want to know that."

Jean tapped her chin. "My associates and I are planning an attack on the planet. We are after the terrazine."

A normal Tal'darim would've drawn his blade already after realizing the terran was planning on looting the breath of god, but Nyon wasn't the typical Tal'darim fanatic. If he was the common Tal'darim, he would never have made a deal with Jean in the first place.

The relationship between the Tal'darim and Amon was twisted. On one hand, the lower Tal'darim treated Amon as a god as would gladly give their lives for him. On the other hand, the high leveled Tal'darim viewed Amon more as an idol than a leader. They only respected him because he was powerful. If, say, Ma'lash, suddenly gained a power equal to that of Amon, the Highlord wouldn't hesitate to attack and attempt to kill his god.

After all, what do you expect from warriors who spent most of their lives killing? They weren't exactly easily convinced.

Nyon was similar. He was only singing Amon's praises and guarding his artifact because he didn't have the power to say no to Amon. He would never openly challenge Amon, at least not now, but he wouldn't turn against an ally just because she spoke ill of Amon either.

"What do you want me to do?" Nyon asked the brain among the two.

Jean started thinking. Just allowing Raynor and Tosh to fight Nyon was inefficient. All of them were her allies and potential assets. Any losses would be losses to her ability to complete her mission.

She couldn't convince Nyon to abandon the terrazine without a fight either. Even if the ascendant was willing to give up an entire planet and all the resources on it without making a stand, his reputation would be largely damaged. She couldn't risk it.

Nyon was a key part of her plan. The potential access to the entire Death Fleet was more than appealing.

That was when Jean thought of something.

"Nyon, is it normal for ascendants to trade planets?"

Nyon's eyes glared as he started thinking. "It's unpopular in general, but ascendants at my level do it all the time. You want me to sell Bel'shir?"

Jean nodded. "I need Bel'Shir to fall. This is the best plan."

Nyon slid his sharp, armored fingers down his chin. "A planet as rich of terrazine and minerals as Bel'Shir is extremely valuable. I can get at least two fleets for it. Maybe three." A single Tal'darim fleet held four capital ships, usually carriers, and eight support ships, usually destroyers. That didn't sound like a lot, but with the power of the Tal'darim, two fleets could take down half the Deadman's Port.

"But, tell me, Jean. Why should I do that?" Just when the things were thought out, the Sixth Ascendant suddenly said. A typical smirk found its way on his face.

Jean wasn't surprised. She never considered Nyon to be a selfless friend who would help her without a reason. They were allies, but Jean hasn't done anything for Nyon yet, and Nyon has already given her the blood hunters and the information about Bel'Shir. There was no reason for him to sell the planet at all.

"What do you want?" This time it was Jean asking.

Nyon stayed silent for nearly a minute. He was trying to exert some pressure on Jean. He could see she was on a timer, and the more he delayed the more impatient she would become, the more likely she would say yes to his offer, but Jean showed no sign of being worried.

Finally, Nyon was the one that broke the silence. "I want an advice."

"What is it about?"

"I am not exactly in the best situation." It hurt Nyon's pride to admit the direness of his situation, but a part of him knew he needed to speak up so Jean could help him. The desire for not just survival but also power was enough to overcome his injured pride.

"After Xil, I lost the second piece of artifact, thanks to you." He looked at Jean, remembering she was the primary reason he was in this place. "Ma'lash decided I am no longer fit to guard god's work. The rest of the artifact fragments have been taken away from me and given to the rest of the top ascendants."

"Not only so, the defeats have lowered my authority. My supplicant army is still intact and my blood hunters are still intimidating for the common warriors, but even so most of the ascendants are still on a shaking ground. If one of them decide to abandon me, the rest will follow. Without the ascendants and their forces and ships, I can't maintain my position as the Sixth Ascendant. Even if I can defeat a few challengers, I will not have the forces to attack and loot other factions."

"We Tal'darim don't have shipyards. Every single one of our ship comes from captured and modified vessels from the Khala faction. Without the ability to attack, I will not be able to expand my forces. If I can't grow and the others can, eventually I will be challenged and defeated."

"I want you to help me prevent that pathetic fate."

Jean nodded. "I need more information. If you want me to help you I will need to know more details about your people." She knew the general information about the Tal'darim from the memory she received from the Supreme One, but there was no way she could receive every piece of information there is about the Tal'darim. She would literally be driven mad by the massive amount of information.

Nyon tapped something, and a few seconds later a file appeared on the hologram projector. Jean noticed the words were written in terran language.

The file contained detailed info about the top few ascendants, from Highlord Ma'lash to the Tenth Ascendant Kasar.

She read the file carefully, word by word.

"You need a victory." A few minutes later, she finally said. "You need a swift victory and, if possible, a relieving slaughter, to confirm your authority."

Nyon wasn't exactly satisfied. He has thought about that as well. A swift victory could make the common warriors forget about his defeat and make the ascendants understand this is not a good time to challenge him. It will settle everything. With the main army and fleet intact, he could keep on with his path of looting and growing. The aftermath of the battle of Xil would be gone.

But there was a reason he came to Jean for help even after knowing that.

"A victory alone is not enough. I need a swift victory." He reasoned, slightly impatient. "More importantly, I need to take down a tough foe, otherwise the effect wouldn't be there. Killing a squad of terran can't make my people see how powerful I am. Yet if I launch war on a well know faction, like the Khala, I might be forced into a drawn out war and might even be defeated. I can afford neither option."

"Perhaps," Jean tilted her head slightly, "but who said anything about fighting another faction? Here's the plan..."

Nyon's crimson eyes widened as Jean told him her plan. The more he heard, the gladder he was of making the decision of working with Jean.

"How did you think of all that?" He finally asked. If he had a mouth it would be hung open. "We have the same data, but I can never come up with something like that." He quietly put himself in the situation of all the players in this party and realized there was no way he could sense something was off.

Jean didn't answer. In reality, she realized, apart from her lack of emotion, her brain was also much more intelligent than the common people, terran or protoss. She could come up with a plan and check all fronts within half a minute.

It was almost as if her brain was designed to be tactical.

Of course, there was no need to tell Nyon that.

Seeing no response from Jean, the Sixth Ascendant finally agreed. "I will sell Bel'Shir at once. Wait for my call."


	46. Chapter 46

Slayn.

If Char was hell, then Slayn would be purgatory.

The once beautiful planet suffered a terrible fate when the first Tal'darim scouts found large areas of potential terrazine geysers on the planet. It didn't take long for the entire Tal'darim society to migrate here and use it as its capital world.

To worlds like Korhal, the presence as a capital world brought peace and prosperity, but this wasn't exactly the same in the case of Slayn.

The Tal'darim had only one thing in mind, and that was to create a world as cruel and deadly as possible. Terrazine gas erupted from the planet's crust and wiped out the planet's forests, replacing them with a deadly fog. This fog could kill an armored terran in a few minutes, but to the Tal'darim it was the perfect place to practice void energy in. The scorching atmosphere that could burn a human being alive merely created a weak, even satisfying, pain on the Tal'darim warriors. If anything, this pain made the Tal'darim closer to the void.

This was undoubtedly dangerous, but the Tal'darim believed only the strongest had the right to live, and they incorporated that belief into their very own environment.

The Tal'darim settlements were based on different leaders. Highlord Ma'lash and his supplicants settled in an area with the densest terrazine gas and the closest to the void. The second best place was taken by First Ascendant Nuroka. The trend went on. Nyon lived in his own fortress in the sixth best choice, surrounded by his own supplicants.

After turning off the call with Jean, Nyon stood up from his armor covered seat and tapped a key on his arm. The next second he disappeared in a warp beam.

He reappeared in another fortress.

Three supplicants were standing at the power field. Two were zealots, but the third was an ascendant.

Nyon's eyes slightly widened. Zealots and slayers might give up their chance in the chain of ascension and serve an ascendant, but it was very rare for an ascendant to pledge his complete loyalty to a fellow ascendant.

Even he only had eight supplicant ascendants, but the ascendant he came to meet literally positioned an ascendant as a sentry. This only proved how weak he truly was. Once again, Nyon reinforced his plan to collaborate with Jean.

"State your request with haste, Sixth Ascendant, or you will be banished." The supplicant demanded with little respect. There was no need for him to be nice toward Nyon. He belonged to First Ascendant Nuroka, and only Nuroka could punish him. Plus, he was just doing his job. If Nuroka knew about what happened, he might even reward him.

"I am here to strike a deal with First Ascendant Nuroka." Nyon replied as calmly as he could.

"Wait here." The ascendant nodded at one of his fellow zealots, but his eyes remained on Nyon. He highly doubted the Sixth Ascendant would do anything here, but Tal'darim weren't exactly the most rational race in the sector.

The zealot tapped a communication device on her arm, and half a minute later she turned back and nodded at the ascendant.

The ascendant moved to the side. "Your presence is authorized, but I must warn you. Don't do anything stupid."

Nyon nodded, silently memorizing the psionic signature of the ascendant and swearing to cut off his head when he has the chance. He couldn't believe he, the sixth more powerful entity in the chain of ascension, was just threatened by a low leveled ascendant. His logic was enough to suppress the anger, but deep down he knew he would enjoy watching the ascendant scream.

One of the supplicant zealots led Nyon through a series of heavily defended hallways. Nyon could faintly sense blood hunters lurking in the shadows. No doubt if he did something he shouldn't have, he would be stricken down immediately. Supplicant zealots and slayers patrolled the area. Photon cannons added the final touch to the defenses.

The only faction on Slayn was the Tal'darim, and legally speaking ascendants could only attack each other during Rak'Shir, but sometimes ascendants were willing to step out of the line to gain more power. When an ascendant dies, whether in battle or by the hands of a mysterious assassin, every Tal'darim under him automatically ascendants by one level. As a result, infiltration and assassination wasn't rare.

This was especially true for someone as powerful as First Ascendant Nuroka. It was almost impossible for him to be defeated in a fair duel, so it wasn't surprising that some might try to use the slightly illegitimate method.

The zealot stopped in front of the door of a chamber. A line of twenty supplicant zealots, commanded by a single ascendant, stood guard at the area.

"Our master is expecting him." The first zealot explained.

The supplicant nodded. He has received orders about this. He moved to the side and gave way for Nyon. The Sixth Ascendant walked in without another word.

As soon as he saw Nuroka, he saluted. Even though what he was about to do would make Nuroka want to kill him when he finds out, he still needed to appear obedient...for now.

"Nyon." In his seat, Nuroka crossed his legs casually. "What do you want?" Nuroka had to admit, he didn't feel the need to respect the Tal'darim in front of him. Respect comes from strength, and Nyon wasn't exactly the strongest ascendant.

Nyon sensed Nuroka's disrespect, but he merely took note of it and kept on his mask.

"I am here to make a deal."

Nuroka seemed intrigued. "Tell me about it."

Nyon looked into Nuroka's eyes. "What do you know of Bel'Shir?"

"Bel'Shir? Forest planet with high terrazine and mineral concentration." The First Ascendant tried to conceal his interest. "I remember it's under your doctrine." He was sensing where Nyon was going, but he also knew if he wanted to maximize his interest he would need to act as if he wasn't concerned.

"For now." Nyon saw the hint of desire from Nuroka. "I offer to give you Bel'Shir...in exchange for some ships."

Nuroka tapped his chin and went over what happened, or at least what he thought what happened.

Nyon took heavy losses in the fight against the swarm, and his authority was shaken. It was obvious that he needed a swift victory to strengthen his control over his forces, but in order to do that, he needed more forces. Thus came the deal.

"How many ships do you want?"

Nyon smirked. Nuroka seemed to have given him the choice of the price, but it was simply a business method. If Nuroka gave the price, he could no longer change it. If Nyon did, Nuroka could raise it or lower it as he felt the need to.

"Three fleets." 12 carriers. 24 destroyers.

"That's a lot to ask for." Nuroka understood Nyon needed the ships and he needed them now, so the First Ascendant didn't hesitate to beat the price down as much as possible.

"As you said before, Bel'Shir holds countless units of minerals. Last I checked, it contains at least thirty terrazine geysers. The amount of terrazine produced can get you an army in just weeks. It's certainly worth three fleets."

Nuroka didn't give in. He wasn't the one in need. "Perhaps, but we both know you need the ships now."

Nyon groaned slightly. "True, but keep in mind, First Ascendant, you are not the only person who I can made the deal with."

Nuroka slammed his fists into the handles of his seat and stood up violently. He looked at Nyon as if he wanted to rip the latter apart.

"Threatening a superior ascendant is punishable by death." He whispered.

"I'm just stating a fact, First Ascendant."

Nyon wasn't intimidated by the threat. Nuroka had overwhelming power over him, but even he couldn't force a deal.

This was all knitted into the Tal'darim tradition. Amon wanted an entire race of battle-hardened warriors to do his bidding. He had no intention of allowing the Highlord to massacre anyone who might challenge his rule, who were usually the elite warriors he needed. In time of war, high leveled ascendants could order those below him into battle, and potentially send them to die, but in a situation like this even Nuroka couldn't punish Nyon. If this went out, the entire chain of ascension would go against the First Ascendant. No one wanted to be executed by a jealous commander for no reason at all.

Plus, if First Ascendant Nuroka could punish Sixth Ascendant Nyon with a random reason, then Highlord Ma'lash could do the same thing to Nuroka, right?

Nuroka understood that as well, which was why he sat back down.

"Two fleets. That's my bottom line." He finally said. "Take it or leave it, but if you decide to go to someone else, I suggest you be careful." He threatened. "The Nerazim might be cowards who can only lurk in the shadows, but sometimes they can be a rather grave threat."

"A lot of ascendants will be happy to move up another step in the chain without doing anything."

Nyon growled as if he was touched by the threat. "Fine, but I want something in addition."

Nuroka looked at him impatiently.

"I want a can of high concentration terrazine."

Nuroka frowned. Terrazine comes in different concentrations. The more concentrated they are, the closer they can bring the user to the void and therefore the more power the users could get.

High concentration terrazine geysers were extremely rare, and most of them were controlled by Ma'lash. As the second most powerful Tal'darim in the faction, Nuroka had a few geysers as well. However, he kept them to himself. Most of the ascendants knew of this possession, but he refused to trade them for anything. None of the other ascendants were strong enough to take it by force either.

Nuroka wanted to say no, but Nyon saw it. "If you deny it, I can always go to someone else. I'm sure Highlord Ma'lash will gladly give me a can in exchange for a planet."

"You are playing with fire."

"Even the First Ascendant can't attack me without a proper reason. Plus, you know my situation. I need more power and I need them now. Keep in mind, First Ascendant, neither a single can of terrazine nor two fleets is a match for a planet as large as Bel'Shir."

Nuroka nodded inside. Nyon's move was reasonable. Bel'Shir was great, but it needed time to be turned to ships and warriors. Nyon needed the forces now. The two fleets could be added to his armada and the can of highly concentrated terrazine could give a boost to his psionic power.

He knew if he kept on lowering the price Nyon might actually go to Ma'lash. Bel'Shir, in long term, is worth much more than two fleets and a single can of terrazine. If he drove Nyon away because of his own greed, he would have no one to blame but himself.

"Deal."

Nyon smirked. Nuroka thought he was using the can of terrazine on himself.

He couldn't be more wrong.

* * *

Nuroka moved quickly. Within a single day, two dozens ascendants entered Nyon's ranks, along with eight carriers and twelve destroyers. Nuroka, with his Tal'darim styled selfishness, pulled back all the ground forces that were usually positioned on the carriers, leaving just the hundreds of supplicants with those ships.

A squad of two hundred supplicants just handed him a large can full of concentrated terrazine.

At the same time, on Bel'Shir, the Tal'darim fleet under Nyon's command was replaced by another fleet under Nuroka. As soon as his warriors were in place, Nuroka deployed thousands of probes to the surface of the planet and started mining minerals and terrazine.

The ascendant in command of the fleet put up the usual defenses, but that was it. All the buildings Nyon put in place, including defensive structures like photon cannons and shield batteries, were warped back to the Sixth Ascendant's fortress on Slayn. Nuroka, on the other hand, didn't feel the need to make the entire planet a fortress. He set up several observers around the planet's orbit and warped in some cannons near the terrazine geysers, but that was it.

None of the Tal'darim felt like they would be attacked. The ascendants were spending more time trying to "accident" a fellow ascendant above them than preparing for war.

That was until the terran came.


	47. Chapter 47

To a certain degree, this engagement was similar to the one between the Hyperion and Nyon's fleet in the orbit of Xil. The only difference was this time the terran were the ones on the aggression.

"All units proceed with the plan." Horner, the commander of the combined forces, ordered.

Even though Tosh's men made up most of the combined forces, the spectre had no intention of being the leader. He was an experienced covert operative, but being able to infiltrate a fortress and slit the fortress' commander's throat didn't mean being able to launch a full scale assault on the fortress with an army. Tosh was well aware of that fact, so he handed the privilege to the second best person in the room.

Most of the Raiders knew Jean was a better commander than Horner, but after Xil Raynor wouldn't give Jean command of the Raiders unless he absolutely had to. Thus came Matt Horner as the commander of the combined forces.

One of the usages of covert units like dark templars and ghosts was the ability to scout without being detected. As enhanced ghosts, spectres were even better at this job.

Before the attack, unlike the last time when the Raiders just blindly warped in, Tosh did some scouting. He sent two spectres, piloting two wraths, onto Bel'Shir first. Armed with cloaking fields, modified engines, and powerful psionic abilities, these spectres were able to sense and evade the few Tal'darim detectors and patrols.

Without much trouble, the spectres took a full scout of the Tal'darim defenses and reported back with all the information the terran needed for a clean engagement.

When the seven terran battlecruisers exited warp space, they were right beside one of the scouting destroyers.

If an army wanted to cover every inch of a planet as large as Bel'Shir, it would need hundreds of capital ships at least. That was more than twenty times the ships available for the Tal'darim defenders.

But the Tal'darim couldn't just abandon the rest of the planet and focus on securing the terrazine geysers either. Thousands of probes were ravaging through mineral clusters all across the planet. They needed protection. Even the First Ascendant couldn't shrug off the loss of this number of probes.

In his wisdom, the ascendant in command ordered destroyers and phoenixes to scout across the orbit of the planet for hostile presence.

This order allowed the ascendant to cover most of the planet but also left half the Tal'darim fleet scattered and relatively defenseless. Usually this shouldn't be a problem and the Tal'darim fleet could come together as soon as enemies exited warp space, but to the prepared terran vessels, it was an opportunity as bright as the star in the sky.

All seven battlecruisers appeared in close proximity to the destroyer. The destroyer pilot barely had the time to scream into the comm

"Multiple terran capital vessels incoming! Ascendant Olane! We need countermeasures now!"

The ascendant in command, who was lazily lying back in her seat in her carrier's bridge, sat up in vigilance. "All ships converge on my location! Tal'darim warriors, assemble near the terrazine geysers! The fleet will engage the terran in battle, but if they are to deploy landing parties, it will be your job to obliterate them. Probes, fall back to the defenses."

"I shall become one...with the void..."

The seven battlecruisers started to blast away at the destroyer. At this close of a distance, there was no way for the destroyer to evade the laser batteries. Under the storm of orange, the support ship class plasma shield collapsed like broken glass.

The destroyer focused its destroyer beam on one of the mercenary battlecruisers, but under the terran firepower the ship was turned into a ball of flame almost immediately.

The destroyer was picked off without doing any real damage to the combined terran fleet, but it did buy some time for the Tal'darim fleet to assemble. When the terran vessels made a move at the planet's surface, they were stopped by four carriers and seven destroyers.

Horner tapped his fingers on a table. Things didn't go as well as he and the rest of the commanders have hoped, but they planned for this as well.

Without another word, the terran fleet charged toward the Tal'darim in high speed. The Hyperion was leading the charge. Its combat ability was one of the reasons Tosh, even with his fleet of five ships, dozens of elite assassins, and a group of mercenaries, still went through all the trouble to come to Raynor for help.

The terran didn't bother sending ground forces to the surface of Bel'Shir. They knew as long as they could take down the fleet, the Tal'darim ground forces would have no way of stopping the bombardment of the battlecruisers.

On the other side, ascendant Olane was observing the terran moves with a few advisers.

"My master, these terran seem to be preparing for close quarter combat. Shall we pull back?" Inside Olane's carrier and beside the female ascendant, a supplicant zealot observed.

"Pull back? Those terran are fools to engage us in melee. Their firepower will be crippled inside the hull of the ships while our blades will be unstoppable. Whoever came up with this plan is a fool." Olane smirked. "Are our supplicants in place?"

"Yes, my master. All 200 of your supplicants are yearning for battle. As soon as you give the order, they will charge into your foe and rip them to pieces of broken flesh." The supplicant replied zealously.

In a situation like this, when large numbers of units couldn't be fighting at the same time, it was better to use fewer but stronger units. With this in mind, Olane kept all the Tal'darim ground forces on Bel'Shir and used supplicants alone to defend against boarding battles.

A part of Olane still believed the terran would follow their ships with a ground assault. Unless the terran believed they could destroy her fleet, they would try to hold her ships back and deploy ground forces to Bel'Shir and seize whatever they came here for, and she needed all the ground forces to hold them back.

"My master, the terran vessels are charging up their main weapon!" Another supplicant warned. On a scanner in front of him, seven bright heat signatures appeared.

"Shields to maximum." Olane ordered coldly. "All ships move forward. The closer we get to the terran, the less effective their guns will be. Those who back off will be branded as traitors and will suffer an excruciatingly slow death."

Olane wasn't worried about herself. Her carrier was the best one in the entire fleet. Its top notch plasma shield, combined with the modified khaydarin crystal, could withstand almost any punishment.

Some of the destroyers might fall, but Olane didn't really care. These destroyers, along with their pilots and supplicant forces aboard, were only under her command because Nuroka ordered so. She didn't give a damn if they die.

They were largely useless to her, and if they died Nuroka could simply send reinforcements to her, so she was fine with watching them burn.

The Tal'darim fleet complied. The rest of the carriers put all the energy to the front plasma shield. Destroyers did a similar thing, but some of the pilots were already checking the emergency warping systems. Others were ready to give their lives for the cause. Even so, the entire Tal'darim fleet moved forward toward the encroaching terran ships.

"All cruisers, open fire!" When the Yamato Cannons were fully loaded, Horner didn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

Seven balls of orange energy smashed into three of the seven destroyers. Once again, Horner chose to take out three ships once and for all in contrast to wound all seven ships.

The three unfortunate destroyers exploded immediately. Two Yamato Cannons at the same time was more than what their shields could handle. A hundred or so Tal'darim, pilots and supplicants alike, perished in the explosion.

But that was it. Both fleets were charging at each other, and the battlecruisers didn't have time to reload their main cannon and fire again.

Dozens of phoenixes, along with nearly ten thousand interceptors, swarmed upon the seven battlecruisers.

Usually when facing this type of situation the Raiders would simply try to gun down these protoss fighters with their laser batteries and air to air missiles, but that was simply because usually the Raiders didn't have enough fighters. A dozen vikings was nothing compared to thousands of protoss fighters and drones.

But this time the terran were much stronger. Tosh has spent years building up an army, and someone as ruthless and deadly as he in a place as chaotic as Deadman's Port formed the ingredient of success. Through a series of blackmail, assassination, mind control, and threats, he gained himself a small fleet that would die for him.

The five battlecruisers were just a part of that fleet. A squad of a mixture of thirty wraiths and twenty vikings was another. He even purchased three assault galleons. Their polariton torpedoes and assault drones added to the relatively weak terran flanks.

Still, these fighters were still outnumbered by the Tal'darim, but they had fire support from the battlecruisers. ATA laser batteries, lanzer torpedoes, gemini missiles, polariton torpedoes and burst lasers formed a web of death. Assault drones from the assault galleons stood tall against the interceptors.

Phoenixes had the best hardware, the fighters themselves, and the best software, the pilots within, but sometimes neither was enough to save the fighter from a dozen missiles locked onto the fighter itself.

Interceptors were even worse. They were expendable drones with little armor and no shield. A single missile could destroy half a dozen of them.

In a wave of explosions, five dozen interceptors and two phoenixes were no more.

The Tal'darim retaliated swiftly. Interceptors washed over the fighters. Their pulse cannons picked the relatively weak armor of the vikings and wraiths apart. Phoenixes charged at the vikings with their weapons firing. Some Tal'darim pilots didn't even bother to dodge the incoming missiles.

Jean saw a phoenix literally crashing into a viking. The viking exploded. The phoenix, on the other hand, emerged from the flames. It glanced around, looking for its next target, but suddenly a pair of missiles came in front an area of empty space behind the phoenix and ripped the fighter to shreds.

The wraith pilot silently grinned, but the kill exposed his position. One of the carrier pilots saw where the missiles came from, and fifty interceptors swarmed into the area and started firing blindly. The wraith, still cloaked, dodged, but one of the pulse cannons must have hit the cloaking field generator. The wraith blinked a few times before appearing.

"Shit!" The pilot cursed, but he didn't have the time to say anything else as the interceptors overwhelmed him.

Horner frowned at the wave of screams from the radio channel. He wasn't used to fighting in this brute force fashion, but Tosh insisted on breaking through the Tal'darim fleet ASAP. If the battle was drawn out long enough, the Death Fleet would reinforce, and there would be no way the terran could get the terrazine when it was protected by hundreds of carriers and motherships.

Plus, even Tosh, the owner of these fighters, didn't mind the losses. Horner glanced at the computer screen that Tosh was on and saw the man was standing there, casually flipping his dagger. Horner suddenly realized he was very similar to Jean.

The captain sighed again. It was too late now. The dead were already gone. The only thing he could do would be completing the mission and making sure their death wasn't pointless.

As the fighters from both races fought, the capital ships got closer and closer. Both laser batteries and destruction beams were targeted on ships of the opposite side. Crimson beams and orange rounds covered the space.

"Mr. Tosh, please ready the drop pods." He turned to the large spectre.

"You've got it, captain Horner." Tosh nodded as he turned around and walked out of the bridge. In comparison to sitting back in the battlecruiser's bridge, he was much more useful in the field. Sure, it might be dangerous and perhaps a single interceptor might destroy the drop pod he was in and straight up kill him, but if he was afraid of death he would never have made it through the ghost training program.

To a certain degree, Jean was indeed similar to Tosh. Both were ruthless and willing to do anything to get to their goal. Both of them were willing to put themselves at risk. The only difference was Tosh was cold because of the decades of ghost training.

Jean was cold because she was built to be so.


	48. Chapter 48

"My master, the terran have launched drop pods at us!" The supplicant said with absolute awe. It was a known fact that terran forces, without fire support, were no match for protoss zealots and ascendants. It would be a massacre.

Outside, the five battlecruisers suddenly launched a dozen missiles at the four carriers. All the missiles hit the carriers and exploded when they made contact with the plasma shield. Instead of exploding into a ball of flames, the missiles launched a wave of blue energy across the entire vessel.

The plasma shields immediately started crumbling. These electromagnetic missiles were designed to take down terran and protoss mechanical units. Three EMP missiles per carrier wasn't enough to disable the ships themselves, but they were enough to break a hole through the plasma shields.

The EMP missiles were followed by fifty or so drop pods. Each pod carried around ten infantry units. They were spread out across all four ships. A few of the interceptors and phoenixes tried to pull back and wipe out the defenseless drop pods, but the vikings and wraiths used the chance to push forward. Trying their best to retreat, a large portion of the protoss fighters were destroyed by the missiles and torpedoes. The rest smashed into a web of computer-guided laser batteries.

The four destroyers still present could only helplessly watch. Their anti-armored destruction beams were practically useless against the agile and relatively small drop pods.

Only a few pods were destroyed en route. The rest smashed into the hull of the carriers. All the Tal'darim aboard could feel the ground shaking.

"Ready the supplicants. Locate the terran boarding parties and kill them all."

Once again, Olane wasn't worried. She was slightly taken back by the almost perfect collaboration by the terran battlecruisers, fighters, and boarding parties, but she also believed in the power of her supplicants. Each and every one of them has fought in countless battles. They might be insignificant when being bombarded by a wave of siege tanks, but in the hallway of the carriers they were practically invincible. Their plasma shields would be impenetrable by gauss rifles while their bane blades could chop the terran marines to pieces.

"My master, should we call for reinforcements from Bel'Shir? The terran are not attacking the planet surface."

Olane smirked as she sensed foreign presence inside the carrier. "Yes, we will make use of the warriors on the planet, but we will not be sending them here." She turned to the supplicant. "Send out all our war prisms toward the terran battlecruisers and enter phasing mode. When they are in place, warp our warriors into the terran ships."

"The terran are trying to take us out from the inside. We will do the same to them."

* * *

At one of the landing sites, a squad of ten mercenary marines jumped out.

"Sir, we have gone off course!" A man reported with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Damn it! Enter battle positions! Go go go!" The captain yelled through the team comm. He was well aware of how dangerous this mission was, and he knew how bad the situation was. He would've refused this mission, but after Tosh brutally tortured and executed his mercenary commander, along with twenty officers and soldiers who stood against him, he decided fighting the Tal'darim was a better choice.

The marines secured the halls with their rifles, but the next second one of the mercenaries saw something from one end of the hall.

Ten figures. Red blade. Pale face. Red eyes.

"Tal'darim!"

"Damn it! Shoot them! Shoot them!" The captain ordered loudly as he turned around. All ten marines opened fire. The rhythmic sound of gauss rifles brought a sense of security to the heart of the mercenaries.

But that sense of security was nowhere to be seen when the first zealot continued moving forward. Bullets whizzed by, hit the shield, and were evaporated. The Tal'darim warrior simply smirked and moved forward.

The marine captain took a step back but kept on firing. He was scared as hell, but his experience told him his only chance out was by killing all the Tal'darim aboard.

As if annoyed by the continuous resistance, or as if pushed forward by his fellow supplicants who were tired of him getting all the battle, the supplicant zealot charged forward in a beam of energy. One second he was standing there, taking the gauss bullets like it was nothing. The next second he was in front of one of the mercenaries.

His blade went inside the man's chest. The marine's combat shield melted like hot butter.

"Ahhhh!" The man screamed at the top of his lung. His rifle fell on the ground next to him. He knew he needed to pull back and avoid further damage. If he could do that, he might live long enough to be healed by a medic.

But his mind was overwhelmed by one thing. Pain. The endless, excruciating pain washed over every inch of his skin and extracted another sharp scream from his mouth.

As if satisfied by the man's misery, the zealot sliced his blade sideways, and immediately the marine was reduced to two pieces of blood-soaked flesh.

The mercenary captain groaned. He hesitated for a second before taking out something from the storage space of his armor. He slammed it into the line of Tal'darim. The CMC armor sent the weapon right into the center of the protoss.

"Fire in the hole!"

The marines knelt down on the ground and put their shields between themselves and the zealots.

An explosion came from the other side of the shields. The shredder grenade the marine captain throw ripped the supplicant zealots apart. Only a few were killed instantly, but every zealot lost his shield and was knocked off balance.

The marines rose up again and opened fire. After four more dead marines, they were able to slaughter all the zealots in the hallway.

The marine captain took a deep breath. That was just ten zealots, and there were likely hundreds of Tal'darim on this vessel, but he didn't have time to think about that. The explosive he deployed was a grenade he paid half his credits for, and that was the only one. He couldn't imagine how he and his team could survive the mission.

But, looking around at the five dead bodies and four battered marines, he knew he needed to cheer these men up. "Get back on your feet, boys…"

Suddenly, he froze. A line of red appeared on his neck.

The four marines looked at each other in confusion.

And then the marine captain's head fell off.

The four marines scrambled to grab their weapons, but they quickly realized there was no enemy to be seen.

"Where did that come from?" A marine looked around. The next second a crimson blade pierced his chest from the back and came out in the front.

The marines screamed and fired blindly, but it was no use. One final slice ended all three marines left.

An entire drop pod of Tosh's mercenaries, slaughtered.

Above the bodies of the marines, a blood hunter smirked and walked away.

"Terran weaklings..."

* * *

Luckily, not all the drop pods were knocked off course, surrounded, and massacred. Three drop pods landed at almost the same location. Thirty or so mercenary marines, marauders, and reapers streamed out.

Two zealots were already in place, but before they could do anything two psionically powered bullets came out of nowhere and punched through their shields and went through their skull.

The two elite zealots collapsed almost simultaneously as two spectres reloaded their AGR-14 rifles.

"Forward! Let these heretics feel the wrath of Amon!" Reinforcements quickly arrived, but the terran were already in place. A supplicant zealot screamed before being melted in a storm of gauss rounds.

The ascendant commanding this carrier glanced at the internal scanners and went back to the battle in space. The boarding parties were in plentiful numbers, but he was more focused on commanding his ship against the terran fleet. If the Tal'darim could destroy all the terran vessels, the boarding parties would be stuck on the ship and slaughtered.

Suddenly, he heard a pained groan at the door leading into the bridge. He turned around and realized the supplicant zealot that stood guard was nowhere to be seen.

He looked down and saw a piece of armor on the ground. A pair of bane blade generators rested on the floor.

The ascendant cursed and sent all his void energy to his plasma shields, but it was too late. A single psionically powered round went through the thin air and hit his shield, breaking it almost instantly. One side was prepared. The other was in a hurry. It was hardly a fair fight.

But the shield delayed the round for a few seconds, and with incredible battle experience and psionic talent the ascendant dodged his head to the side, barely missing death.

Straightening his head, the ascendant grinned and ignited his weapons. The sniper round dragged a trail of blood across the ascendant's face, but that only made the warrior more bloodthirsty. He scanned across the bridge with his void energy, trying to locate the covert assassin.

"Cloaking is the weapon of the weak. Come out and face me, coward." As he looked around, the ascendant provoked. A part of him knew no cloaked assassin would be prompted to come out into the open by a few words, which was why he was so surprised when a tall, dark figure emerged from the shadows.

His surprise aside, the ascendant acted without speaking a single word. A mind blast he has been preparing for ever since he dodged the gauss rifle was thrown onto Tosh without a second of hesitation.

Tosh imploded without any resistance, but the ascendant's eyes widened. The explosion didn't cause a single drop of blood. Instead, it scattered a wave of psionic energy across the bridge.

A gun barrel was rested on the back of the ascendant's neck. The Tal'darim didn't sense anything, but the ice cold sensation told him he was in a deadly situation.

"Death comes to all…" The Ascendant screamed and turned around. His blades lit.

A gunshot pierced the bridge.

* * *

As the ascendant was assassinated, the carrier he previously controlled was disabled. The ship itself lost its ability to fire its destruction beam and the ability to maneuver. The interceptors, controlled by minimized AIs, were still functional, but that changed when Tosh exploded several EMP bombs in the ship's bridge and crashed all the computers.

Meanwhile, with the help of the second wave of boarding parties and the spectres, the mercenaries have cleared out all the supplicants on the ship. It didn't take long to plant explosives all across the ship.

When every terran was evacuated from the carrier, the explosives were detonated.

One down. Three more to go.

Inside the Hyperion, the crew members cheered. Even Horner grinned. Suddenly, he turned around and saw a wave of red signals approaching through the scanners.

"Sir, scanners indicate Tal'darim vessels incoming. They identify as war prisms."

"Damn it." Raynor, who was resting inside the bridge, saw the scanners as well. "Tese war prisms can transport entire armies of Tal'darim into our ships in just minutes. We can't pull back and we don't have the firepower to take down all the prisms."

"Then we need to hold them off inside our ships." Horner concluded.

"Fine. Leave that to me. Just make sure our ships will be the last ones intact." Raynor ordered before shutting his helmet. An order was passed down through the comm, and the hundreds of Raiders inside the ship started moving. They weren't sent out as boarding parties as they were too precious, and this made it much easier for the Raiders to hold their line.

All across the board the Tal'darim were launching a counterattack. While terran drop pods were hitting Tal'darim carriers, Tal'darim war prisms were boarding terran battlecruisers. Spectres and blood hunters were deployed to assassinate the captains of opposing ships. Fighters dotted around the capital ships, who were doing their best to bombard the enemy vessels. Laser batteries and photon cannons did their best to turn the enemy transports into metal graves of the troops they carried.

It was a mess.


	49. Chapter 49

Olane noticed almost immediately when one of the carriers within her fleet was destroyed. The explosion of a cruiser several kilometers long was difficult to ignore. The image of thousands of interceptors exploding or crashing into the battlecruisers and carriers around them wasn't easily missed either.

Nonetheless, she merely sat back in her seat.

"Supplicant, report on the situation inside the ship."

"My master, all the terran boarding parties have been purged. The halls of your ship have been painted red by the blood of your enemies." Beside Olane, the supplicant acting as Olane's lieutenant answered. A sickening expression appeared on his face. "Shall we deliver the heads of the terran to you, my master?"

In most cases this was an exaggeration. In this case, it wasn't.

Olane shook her head. "What is the status on our boarding parties?"

This time the supplicant's expression was turned to what could be described as embarrassment. "Our warriors have encountered heavy resistance. Their losses are severe. The terran ships are packed with automated defenses. Only a few war prisms have gone past the terran batteries, and even they have been pinned down."

The female ascendant started thinking. Suddenly, a wave of screams came from outside the bridge.

Outside, three EMP rounds smashed into the two photon cannons guarding the entrance to the bridge. A wave of blue energy washed over both structures and disabled them. These EMPs were specifically modified to take down protoss technology.

A supplicant zealot charged forward and was sniped down.

As the last defender fell, three spectres, all cloaked, charged into the bridge of the Tal'darim carrier.

Not all of the boarding parties were as successful as the ones on the destroyed carrier. In fact, in most cases, the mercenaries were simply straight up overwhelmed. This was the case for this carrier.

As the fleet commander, Olane's supplicant army was the strongest. It was nothing compared to that of Nyon or that of Nuroka, but it was more than enough to deal with a couple dozen mercenaries. All the mercenaries were slaughtered. They fought until the end, but sometimes courage wasn't enough.

The spectres had a different fate. Their mission was different from that of the mercenaries. The mercenaries were supposed to establish a secured position and wait for reinforcements, who should be arriving in larger numbers in dropships. The spectres were sent here to assassinate the Tal'darim pilots, therefore rendering the carriers nothing but a few targets.

The spectres could help the mercenaries as long as it didn't affect their mission, but in this case when the squad of three spectres realized the mercenaries were hopeless, they simply abandoned them and advanced toward the bridge.

If they couldn't take down the supplicant army, then they would rather take their chances with assassinating the fleet commander. The battle was not over yet.

The supplicant lieutenant drew his blades. One of the spectres fired a single shot at the supplicant. The zealot wasn't weak either. With incredible agility he tilted his body and barely dodged the shot.

Facing the melee warrior, the spectre that fired the shot returned his rifle to behind his back and pulled out a plasma blade.

He ignited the weapon, which created a purple blade. The zealot slashed expertly, but the spectre was equally experienced in the art of blades. All three weapons clashed in midair.

As they fought, the other two spectres took aim at Olane and fired, but just before one of the spectres pulled the trigger, a red line suddenly appeared above his waist.

The man screamed as his upper body fell over. There wasn't even any blood. The extreme heat of the psionic blade sealed the arteries. Unfortunately that didn't keep the intestines from falling out.

It was a blood hunter. One of Olane's private guards. As soon as the spectres entered the bridge they were focused on Olane and the lieutenant supplicant. The cloaked blood hunter was never spotted. This gave her a chance to strike down one of the spectres with the element of surprise.

The second spectre knew he didn't have the time to turn around or dodge. Even if he did and dodged the blood hunter's attack, he would be stuck with enemies on both sides. But the man didn't cower or retreat. Instead, he pulled the trigger.

The bullet was stopped by Olane's plasma shield. The next second the spectre's head rolled off his neck.

Beside, the last spectre dodged one of the zealot's blades. When he realized both his comrades were dead, he knew he was doomed as well. But the effect of the terrazine was showing on him. His mind didn't held a single strand of fear. In fact, it was clouded by anger and hatred.

The spectre took out something from his pocket and pulled the trigger.

"Explosive!" The lieutenant supplicant was the closest to the spectre. He saw the terran just ignited the charger he carried. It was designed to blow up either the Khaydarin crystal that powered the ship or the bridge. No doubt, it was deadly.

In a split second, Olane acted. But instead of deflecting or shielding the explosive like a common combatant would, she turned to the supplicant zealot.

The warrior's eyes widened. "My master…don't..."

Olane didn't wait for another word. She simply held her hand forward, and the supplicant was horrified to realize he was being pushed forward toward the explosive. His plasma shield was turned to maximum power, but he was well aware even with maximum shield power he couldn't survive the blast.

Then again Olane never planned on the supplicant surviving.

The supplicant resisted, but with overwhelming psionic power Olane tossed the zealot onto the explosive the second before it went out.

The explosive ripped through the plasma shield of the zealot, but it was weakened in the process. What was left of the blast damaged a few parts of the bridge, but both Olane and the blood hunter survived.

As the dust settled, what was left of the zealot's armor fell on the ground in a loud clang. A large black hole was in its center. The warrior inside was already gone. Olane didn't even bother to look at that. As far as she could see, the lieutenant served his purpose.

"Deploy my supplicants onto…" She looked out the window of the bridge and pointed at one of the mercenary battlecruisers that belonged to Tosh. That cruiser did the worst job in keeping the war prisms away. A dozen war prisms were already in phasing mode around it, and fire could been seen from multiple compartments of the vessel. "to that ship." Attacking that cruiser would result in the minimum losses and the maximum prize.

"As you wish, my master." The blood hunter retreated into the shadows.

* * *

In the bridge of the battlecruiser that was gradually overwhelmed, dozens of crew members were giving it everything they could. Officers did their best to locate places where the Tal'darim were warping in and direct the security forces there, but the war prisms were slick. They were parked near positions where the only batteries that could reach there were destroyed. They could deploy armies of Tal'darim without having to worry about their own safety.

But one of the figures inside the bridge wasn't like the others.

"Boss, more Tal'darim reinforcements are arriving on the ship. These mercenaries are fighting back, but they are not enough." The spectre showed no sign of the bad news. If anything, he sounded thrilled.

"Everything is going according to the plan."

On the other end, Tosh, who has returned to his flagship after helping with one of the carriers, sat back in his leather chair and grinned.

"How many Tal'darim are in the ship?"

"Over 500. Nearly half of them seems to be elite units. Supplicants."

"Now ain't that a pleasant surprise."

"Perhaps, but the security forces are being taken down faster than we expected." The spectre licked his lips. "I suggest we act now."

Tosh nodded. "Do it."

The spectre turned off the comm and exited cloak mode. He didn't need to, but he wanted to.

"What did commander Tosh say?" Seeing the spectre, the captain of the battlecruiser walked up. "Did he agree for an evacuation? There's no way we can hold the Tal'darim back any longer. We need to abandon ship."

"Abandon ship, yes. Evacuate, no." The spectre said quietly.

"What do you mean…" The captain asked in surprise. His battle instinct brought his hand to the holster on his belt, but the spectre was already in action.

A shade of purple appeared in the air, and the captain collapsed with half of his neck cut open.

"What the…" One of the security forces inside the bridge raised his rifle, but the spectre merely held his hand out, and the mercenary felt his armor gradually being crushed. He made out a short scream before his bones cracked and killed him instantly.

Unfortunately, due to the attack of the Tal'darim, most of the security forces were sent to battle elsewhere. The several marines aimed their rifles, but the spectre simply drew his own sniper rifle returned fire. Somehow he fired the sniper at a rate much faster than multiple gauss rifles. The marines didn't stand a chance.

As the last marine fell, the spectre didn't stop. The crew members were completely taken by surprise. Some went for their sidearms while others ran for the door. One of the officers even called for help through the comm, but before any reinforcing security forces could come the spectre has already secured the door and was gunning down the crew members like gunning down chickens.

It didn't take him long to slaughter every single man and woman in the room. Blood and bodies turned the place into a slaughterhouse.

The only person alive in the bridge, the spectre walked to one of the control consoles, typed in a long series of security code, and pulled up an interface.

"Self-destruction sequence initiating." Unlike in most movies, the self-destruction sequence didn't come with a blaring alarm that told everyone on the ship to get the hell out of there. Rather, it should've sent out a notice to the radios of all the registered friendly units. Unfortunately for the mercenaries, the spectre disabled that function.

As the order was given, the spectre fired a few bullets at the console and destroyed it so the sequence couldn't be halted. When that was done, he turned and walked out of the bridge. The mercenaries still fighting the Tal'darim were condemned to death, but he wasn't.

There was an empty wraith waiting in the hanger of the ship.

* * *

As he closed out of the communication with the spectre operative, Tosh stood back up, ready to do another assassination.

All across the field the situation was getting worse and worse for the Tal'darim. Phoenixes and interceptors were exhausted. Countless war prisms were destroyed in midair. War prisms could create a force field and allowed units to warp in, but warping in requires time and some of the units were loaded into the war prisms themselves. When these transports die, the units within perish as well. As the war prisms were dying in the dozens, hundreds of Tal'darim warriors fell without doing any damage to the terran.

One of the carriers was taken down, thanks to Tosh. Olane's flagship stood tall. However, on the other two carriers, the terran were gradually pushing through. The initial wave of drop pods have cleaned out a small piece of safe location. Photon cannons were destroyed and ground forces were pushed back. This opened up an opportunity for relatively slower and more fragile drop ships to approach.

These transports unloaded hundreds of mercenary reinforcements into the field. One of them even brought a pair of goliaths into the field. Siege tanks might rip open the hull of the ship and send protoss and terran alike into the vacuum of space, but the autocannons of goliaths had no such fear.

Tal'darim weren't sitting duck either. They attacked dozens at a time, but every time the zealots charged they would be welcomed by an EMP round right in the center mass. Most of the zealots were immediately knocked off their feet. The marines and marauders used that opportunity to freely unleash their hail of bullets.

The few zealots that survived fell back and joined the next charge.

The supplicants of the lower ascendants simply weren't enough. If Olane sent her larger, stronger supplicant forces and blood hunters to help her fellow pilots, the situation might be better, but the female ascendant smirked upon the idea of sacrificing her own units to help her comrades.

She would rather send them onto one of the terran battlecruisers than send them to help the other ascendants.

Suddenly, in the computer panel that acted as the communication relay between Horner, Tosh, and Jean, Horner called out.

"Tosh, one of your ships is been overwhelmed. I am moving the Hyperion closer to help."

Tosh sat back down. "That's a negative, captain. I have everything under control."

Horner frowned. "That ship is being boarded. Its missile turrets and batteries are going quiet. I don't know the exact condition but I'm fairly certain the Tal'darim are gaining control of the vessel. I apologize, but I fail to see how you have that under control."

"Well," Tosh opened his mouth to say something, but the next second the battlecruiser they were debating about exploded into a giant ball of flame.

The hundred or so mercenaries still fighting for their lives, along with the 600 or so Tal'darim combatants, including around 150 supplicants, were killed instantly.

"Like I said, I have everything under control."


	50. Chapter 50

With an explosion, a large portion of the Tal'darim ground forces was obliterated. Hundreds of mercenaries on that battlecruiser was wiped out as well, but they were cheap and replaceable. A decent amount of credits could buy anyone an army as large as this one.

Supplicants and Tal'darim ground forces, on the other hand, were almost impossible to be replaced.

"No!" Olane stood up and smashed her fists into the wall of the bridge. The metal frame cracked, but she was beyond the point to care about that.

She sent 150 of her 200 supplicants on that ship! That's ¾ of her forces! And now they were gone. She built them in centuries, and they were lost in just a few seconds. Olane couldn't even imagine what would happen later.

Without her supplicants, she would be challenged in Rak'Shir. She would be outnumbered and defeated. Nuroka would abandon her because she was no longer useful. She would fall, and another ascendant would step on her and rise to a higher level.

She would be nothing but a stepping stone.

And it was all because she was impatient. If she was more careful and kept the supplicants back...but how was she supposed to know this would happen? The terran showed no sign of evacuating. The last report from the boarding parties reported encountering heavy resistance. All the signs showed that they were trying to defend the ship, not blow it up.

The only way it was possible would be if every terran trooper on the battlecruiser was willing to sacrifice themselves, but was that even possible? Tal'darim warriors would gladly die for their god, but she has heard about these terran mercenaries, and they weren't exactly the brave type.

She wasn't the only was surprised.

"Tosh, what have you done?" Through the computer screen, Horner struggled to control his anger.

"What do you mean? Scanners show at least six hundred Tal'darim on that cruiser. That means six hundred less enemies to kill. You should be thanking me."

"You blew up an entire battlecruiser! Your own battlecruiser! Did you even evacuate your men?" Again, it was one thing to lose a ship in battle. It was another to blow it up with hundreds of men on it.

Tosh dodged the question. "It's my ship, and what I do with it is my own problem. Press the attack now and the Tal'darim will be forced to retreat. They can't afford any more losses." He knew the mindset of these Tal'darim warlords. After this, they would hesitate before launching boarding parties again. Even if they do, they wouldn't send their best, assuming they still had any of their best left.

"You...we will talk about this afterward." The experienced captain knew this wasn't the time to argue. Dissent among the ranks was one of the top causes of defeat. He turned around and passed down a few orders.

The six battlecruisers kept on moving. Their mercenary fighters were pretty much gone, but so were the phoenixes and interceptors.

Another carrier started to burn from the inside. Its supplicant forces were gradually thinned down by the endless wave of boarding parties. With one final explosion, its shield disappeared. The mercenary battlecruisers focused fire on that ship, slaughtering Tal'darim and mercenaries alike.

"My master, what is your command？" One of the supplicants that survived the explosion walked up to Olane. He was on guard duty for the ascendant, and it saved his life.

Olane's eyes dimmed down. The terran were much more ruthless than she imagined. Two of the four carriers were already gone. Most of the destroyers were ashes. She still had a sizeable ground army, but she couldn't afford to trade with the terran.

If she were to keep on attacking and end up losing her entire fleet, Nuroka's fleet, she had no doubt her head would be stuck to a pike and be put on show in front of Nuroka's fortress. The First Ascendant would gladly unleash his anger on her.

But she couldn't afford to back off and give up the planet either. A planet this size was valuable, even for Nuroka.

"Have we made contact First Ascendant yet?"

"Yes, my master, but First Ascendant Nuroka is currently attacking a Nerazim settlement. He is unavailable."

After trading off two whole fleets, Nuroka felt like his forces were smaller than he wanted, and for a Tal'darim, the only way to replenish forces was by attacking other protoss factions. That was exactly what the First Ascendant did.

Unfortunately, this left Olane without reinforcement. Other fleet lords were free, but Olane knew if she asked for help from, say, Alarak or Ji'nara, Nuroka would definitely have her head. That would be like telling the world Nuroka couldn't protect his own territory.

If that was the case, then Nuroka no longer deserved to be the First Ascendant. He might as well back off and let someone else take his place.

"My master?" The supplicant asked again. Outside, the last destroyer fell in a spectacular demonstration of firework. All the fighters were gone. All that was left were two crimson carriers and a thousand or so interceptors.

The terran lost one battlecruiser to the self destruction. Two of the mercenary battlecruisers were barely able to keep flying. The Hyperion's armor took quite the punishment. Jean's ship was already burning, but the fire was quickly controlled by SCVs.

Most of the terran ships were still suitable for combat, and the same couldn't be said for the Tal'darim. More importantly, the Yamato Cannons were loaded again. If they open fire on the shieldless carriers...

"Recall all the ground forces and prepare for warping." Olane made up her mind. At this point she could only hope Nuroka would take all the factors into consideration and let her live, though deep down she knew that was unlikely.

Thousands of light beams dropped down on Bel'Shir and teleported all the ground forces, including probes, back onto Olane's carrier. The once empty hallways were instantly filled by confused Tal'darim warriors. When all the units were in, Olane didn't waste a second to bring her ship and the other carrier survivor into warp space.

"Scanners indicate all protoss units have been evacuated. The planet is ours." Jean announced as she looked down on one of the computer screens. She just did an orbital scan of Bel'Shir.

"My boys are collecting the terrazine now. It's being nice doing business with you, Mr. Raynor." Tosh smiled in satisfaction. "There are some mineral clusters on the planet. Feel free to grab them, but keep in mind the Tal'darim might come in any time, so keep your ships ready and only send out SCVs you don't like."

Both Raynor and Jean nodded, though Raynor frowned at that last bit. A few minutes later, several command centers were sent to Bel'Shir. Packed with SCVs, they would collect as many resources for their boss as possible.

Suddenly, Matt Horner, who wanted to say something to Tosh, saw a transmission request on the computer screen in front of him. He frowned before tapping it open. Imagine his surprise when he saw a blonde figure in a hostile environment suit.

"Hello, my name is Nova…"

* * *

On Slayn, two battered carriers exited warp space.

"My master, what should we tell Nuroka? He will not be satisfied." As a supplicant to Olane, the zealot valued the female ascendant over anyone else, even Highlord Ma'lash.

Olane groaned, but before she could say anything, the screen in front of her was automatically opened up.

"Ascendant Olane. I am..."

"Sixth Ascendant Nyon. I am well aware of your identity." Olane immediately tried to take back the control of the conversation. This was an odd timing, and she wasn't sure why the Sixth Ascendant would want to talk to her, an ascendant who pledged her allegiance to Nyon's potential enemy that was just defeated in battle. "However, I am not aware of your purpose."

"I am here to offer you an offer." Nyon said quietly. "As I have learned from a quite trustworthy source, you have just been defeated by a terran fleet. You lost Bel'Shir and, judging from the look of it, most of the fleet Nuroka gave you." He smirked. "Nuroka will not be happy."

"I have been defeated, and I am willing to face his wrath."

"Really? Do you know what happened to the last ascendant that disappointed him. It took Nuroka three days to finally end his misery. Do you think you'll receive a better fate?"

Olane didn't answer. It wasn't the pain that worried her. It was the shame of defeat. The knowledge that her path of ascension was over hurt her more than the most brutal torture.

"However, I can offer you a deal. I can offer you a way to continue your ascension." Nyon suggested. "Join me with you and your ships, and I will make sure Nuroka doesn't lay a finger on you."

Olane turned around and waved at the supplicants, who immediately set up an observer and secured the bridge. Finally, she turned back and smirked. "Why do you think you can protect me? Nuroka can kill you as easily as he can kill me. If you offer me protection, then Nuroka will have a reason to attack you."

"Perhaps, but no one will know that you are in with me." Nyon has went over the plan a couple times with Jean. "No one knows you have survived. As long as you cover the identity of you and your warriors, Nuroka will think the terran wiped you out. He wouldn't even be looking for you."

"And if he finds out? And he will, eventually. The First Ascendant's spies are everywhere."

"As long as the cover can buy me some time, I will no longer need to fear Nuroka." Nyon said confidently. "If I become the First Ascendant, no one will question your presence."

"You must be really short on ships. Otherwise why would you go through all that trouble just for two half destroyed carriers?"

Nyon ignored the question. "That is not your consideration. Are you joining me?"

Olane thought about it for a second. It seemed to be her only way out. She wasn't going to sit by and just allow Nuroka to kill her.

"I'm in, but how can you make sure my warriors will join you as well? The supplicants will follow me without question, but the common warriors won't. They serve Nuroka and Nuroka alone. If you try to turn them to your side, they will go against you."

"How many Tal'darim are on your ship beside the supplicants?"

"Around two thousand."

"You can leave that to me."

As the two struck down the deal, Olane parked her carrier on a planet a distance away from Slayn. The ascendant from the other carrier was persuaded as well. Both ships went silent and allowed a platform for a move to be made on the Tal'darim warriors inside the two ships.

It didn't take long before rumor started to spread. The word got around that First Ascendant Nuroka, angered by these warrior's defeat at the hands of the terran, wanted to have every last one of them executed. Not only so, they would be branded as cowards and weaklings. When they die, they wouldn't even return to Amon.

That caused an outrage. Most of the Tal'darim still alive didn't even meet the terran in combat. All they did was sit back in their base on Bel'Shir and wait for their time to shine, which never came. Blaming them for the defeat was irresponsible and unfair. Having them executed was simply foolish.

Of course, some Tal'darim argued that the rumor might be a fake, but all of them mysteriously disappeared a while after they spoke their ideas. Others wanted to contact Nyon. Some wanted to face remain loyal to Nuroka even if it meant death. All of them failed to live long enough to get to what they wanted.

This continued for two days, and in the end all the Tal'darim capable of thinking independently, which wasn't much, were gone. All those left were those who could be easily manipulated.

The brainwashing continued for three more days, and when it was all over every Tal'darim in the two ships wanted to rip Nuroka's throat out.

At this point, when Olane announced they would switch side to Sixth Ascendant Nyon, very few questioned it, and those that did didn't question it for long.

After all, the dead doesn't have a voice.


	51. Chapter 51

As Nyon was chipping down Nuroka's forces to strengthen that of his own, Jean was facing a completely different problem.

It has been over a day since the Tal'darim were defeated. The SCVs have returned to their ships with patches after patches of minerals. Tosh's SCVs have brought back all the terrazine the man needed.

The Death Fleet the terran commanders were so afraid of didn't show up. Instead, they encountered something they didn't expect to see.

"Tosh, we need to talk."

Raynor was not as satisfied as someone who has just completed a mission and has just earned thousands of units of minerals should be. Jean noticed that she, Raynor, and Tosh were in a three way communication channel.

"What do you mean, Mr. Raynor?" Tosh was obviously taken by surprise as well. After two successful missions working together, he did not expect Raynor to talk to him like he was some sort of criminal or enemy.

"We have received information about your plan." Horner backed Raynor up. "New Folsom. You are planning on assaulting New Folsom Prison and rescue the spectres held there by the Dominion as prisoners."

Tosh frowned. How did they know that. "That is true. I didn't tell you because I felt like the time wasn't right. I apologize if you feel offended...but where did you get this information."

"That doesn't matter." Raynor changed the topic. "Listen to me, Tosh. Your spectres are brilliant soldiers, but they are dangerous. This terrazine they are taking is turning them into murderers. If they are set free, there's no telling what they will do."

"Murderers? We are all murderers. I have killed. You have killed. I bet even she has killed." Tosh pointed at Jean, who was being a quiet audience. The girl shrugged. "Don't tell me you don't have blood on your hand, Raynor."

"I have taken lives. I don't deny it, but these spectres are different. They are psychopaths. Not only so, they are psychopaths with great power. If you free them, there will be no limits on what they can do. You will be unleashing monsters on the innocent people of this sector."

"Perhaps, but that is a worthy price to pay. These spectres can easily overpower Dominion ghosts. With them on our side, we will be unstoppable. Mengsk will fall at our feet." Tosh realized where this was going, and he didn't like it. "Don't let your sympathy destroy our best hope against the Dominion. Mengsk locked up the spectres because he was afraid of their power, and today we are going to use this power against him."

"Hope or not, I will not allow the innocent to suffer for my own gain. If we do that, we will be no different from Mengsk."

Tosh went silent for a second before finally speaking.

"It takes a monster to defeat a monster."

Suddenly, Jean, who has been quiet the entire time, spoke up.

"Sir, who gave you the information on the spectres?"

Raynor bit his lips.

All of a sudden, a third screen appeared on the computer screens, and the woman on it certainly wasn't invited.

Nova Terra.

"Wow, your security network is stronger than I anticipated." The ghost smiled and glanced at another screen. "Even I can barely hack the communication channel."

When Jean was with the Raiders she reinforced the Raider security network. As someone who was used to infiltrating and hacking, she knew how dangerous a crack in the armor could be, and she tried her best to fix it. Nonetheless, Nova had the best of the Dominion behind her back. If it was fighting Jean head on it might be stopped, but a system the girl encrypted was slightly more vulnerable.

"Nova." Tosh hissed. He knew this woman all too well. After all, they have worked together for years.

Jean sat back. She was on team Tosh. Helping Nova couldn't get her anything. There was no way the ghost would join her, and the wellbeing of the innocent wasn't part of her calculations. Even if Nova gave her tips on training ghosts, she wouldn't have the psionically gifted individuals. If she help Tosh, on the other hand, she could get the support of his spectres as well as his fleet. It was an easy choice.

There was no doubt Raynor was on Nova's side. The man was as sentiment as always, and Tosh's brutal yet efficient way of doing things just wasn't fit for him. Jean, however, appreciated that characteristic.

She decided to help Tosh. That was why she exposed Nova's presence.

"I will not let you take down New Folsom, Tosh, whatever it takes. The Dominion doesn't care about the innocent. If we do the same thing, then what is the point of this revolution?" Raynor gave down a last warning. "Back off now, or I will stop you."

No one considered the idea Tosh would give up his mission just because Raynor said so.

Just like everyone expected, Tosh smirked. "Big mistake, brother." He snapped his finger, and the next second the four mercenary battlecruisers that survived started charging up its batteries.

If Raynor insisted on going against him, then he was no longer an asset. He was an obstacle, and obstacles must be removed. Tosh entered this conversation prepared. He told his crew members to be aware of any signals he make. As soon as they see his signal, they were to make a move on the Raiders.

"Matt, get us out of here!"

Just like Tosh sensed something might go wrong, Raynor and Horner made some precautions as well. Before the laser batteries could reach the ship, the vessel was already gone.

Jean tapped a few keys and shut Nova out of the comms. When that was done, she turned to the only one left.

"Tosh." Jean said calmly.

"Jean Turner. I have heard a lot about you. What you did to Colonel Orlan is...efficient, for lack of a better term. That is why I want to make you the same deal your friend refused."

Why did everyone she met know what she did in Deadman's Port?

"I'm listening."

"If you help me seize New Folsom, my spectres and mercenaries will become your allies. You do me a favor, and I will not hesitate to return it. You have seen how good my spectres are." In the battle between the combined terran forces and the Tal'darim, the strength of the spectres was fully demonstrated, whether as scouts, fire support, or assassins.

"I am intrigued." Jean leaned forward. "But I don't believe we have the ships. Somewhere as important as New Folsom must be heavily guarded."

"1 Gorgon and 14 Minotaur in the air. An army with siege tanks, goliaths, and ghosts support on the ground. Missile turrets and orbital cannons all around the place. Reinforcements from the Dominion Fleet will arrive on a very short notice. I have been preparing for this for a long time."

"We can't take down 15 battlecruisers with 5, especially not 15 Dominion battlecruisers."

"I assure you we have much more than 5 battlecruisers. We both know you remotely control, what is it, Isaac's mercenaries? How many battlecruisers is in that?"

"30, but they are mainly Behemoth battlecruisers from the Confederacy days. Minotaurs are the best ships present, and even they will be slaughtered by the Dominion Gorgon."

"I can persuade a few more mercenary leaders to join me." Tosh said slowly as if it was nothing worth noting.

Mercenaries wouldn't join him for no reason. The only way they would help him would be if they were paid or if they had no other choice. Jean felt like it was the latter. Tosh didn't seem like the type of guy that would play by the rules.

"Even so, this will still be a difficult fight. Dominion Gorgons will be impregnable."

"Then we take them out of the equation. Remind me, how did you take down Orlan with just a couple man?"

The man really knows a lot about her. "Covert ops. I went above the enemy platform posing as one of them. When I went inside, I hacked into their security network and gave down false orders to their fleets and security forces. After I cleared out most of the guards, I made a move for the throne. But this can hardly work against the Dominion."

"Why not?"

"For one thing, the Dominion security network is much more secure than the mercenary ones. Their human elements are also more secure. If I go down there with a made up order, the officers might just check in with their commanding officers and know I am lying."

"Even that is not the biggest problem. If I want to disable the Gorgons, I will need to get inside them first. If possible, I even need to take down the bridge. Otherwise the crew members can simply override the control. We both know that is almost impossible. A single Gorgon battlecruiser holds around three thousand Dominion personnel aboard. Even if only a portion of them are security forces, it is an army."

"However, if I can forge an order directly from Mengsk, likely the Dominion forces will not only question it but welcome me into the bridge…this might work."

"I can see the clocks ticking, sister. Do what you must. Notify me when you are ready."

* * *

"Sir, Jean's ship did not come with us. She is back there with Tosh. I'm afraid she has left us."

Raynor looked down on the ground. "Anything else?"

"Yes sir, Nova is on the comm. She is waiting for you."

The rebel commander turned around and faced the Dominion agent.

"What do you want us to do?" While they have established a similar understanding that Tosh must be stopped, they were still enemies. Raynor failed to see how them working together could be good for any of them.

"I will lead my forces to reinforce New Folsom. Tosh will undoubtedly make a move with or without your help. He can't afford to wait. As soon as the attack begins and the Dominion Fleet is in contact with Tosh's ships, I want you to attack his base of operation on Avernus Station. It will be defenseless, and I want you to burn it to the ground."

"I don't take orders from you." Raynor frowned at the orders Nova was giving him. It made him feel like a pawn.

"Need I remind you Tosh's downfall is what we both want? We must work together." Nova replied quietly.

"I'm curious, what will Mengsk think if he finds out you are working with his greatest enemy?"

"That is none of your concern." Nova remembered something. "By the way, I noticed your other ship didn't come with you. Care to explain?"

"It will not be a problem." Raynor denied. "I will take care of Avernus, but keep in mind, I am not your pet. Just because I am taking down Tosh doesn't mean I am working for the Dominion." He shut off the comm and turned to Horner. "We really need to enforce our security network."

"That will have to wait, especially since..." Horner trailed off, but both men understood what he was saying.."…are we really taking down Tosh?"

Ranor frowned at the question. "Is there a problem, Matt?"

"I understand your decision, sir, but keep in mind Tosh, just like us, is a rebel against the Dominion. If we not only refuse to help him but even go as far as practically siding with the Dominion to bring him down, there will be doubts spoken to our intention."

"Doubts? What kind of doubts?" Raynor pushed on. "Do you think someone will suspect I am actually a Dominion agent?"

"All I am saying is it is unwise, sir."

"Unwise?" Raynor sighed. "If I want to be wise, I would have never parted with Jean. I would have never became a rebel. Hell I would have never went against Mengsk. I would probably be a Dominion general already."

Horner finally nodded. He really shouldn't be saying this. After all, Raynor's relentless pursuit for freedom and justice was exactly why Horner himself joined Raynor's Raiders.

"Yes sir."


	52. Chapter 52

Home to the New Folsom Prison, the planet New Folsom was a deadly volcanic planet surrounded by two asteroid belts. Any ship that tried to get to the prison would need to survive the countless asteroids first. This was fine for the Dominion capital ships, but it shut off whatever plan the prisoners had of escaping. Larger transports would be spotted by Dominion ships, and smaller ships would be destroyed before they could even reach the facility.

New Folsom Prison was used to keep political enemies of the Terran Dominion. It was under the protection of the New Folsom Defence Fleet, a fleet made up of 1 Gorgon and 14 Minotaur battlecruisers. A ground force of over 10,000 strong secured the prison itself.

Thirty battlecruisers exited warp space a safe distance away from New Folsom Prison. They were out of the scouting perimeter of the Dominion patrols. All of them were modified by their mercenary pilots. The dull fashion of the Confederacy and the Dominion was replaced by sharp and deadly spikes.

Vikings and wraiths were deployed to patrol around the fleet.

Inside the bridge of the flagship, Jean and Viper stood side by side. Viper was in her usual ghost hostile environment suit. Jean, strangely, was in a Dominion officer suit. The military uniform added some spirit to her cute face.

The supposed commander of the fleet, Isaac, stood slightly to the back. His head was held up so other mercenary crew members in the bridge wouldn't be suspicious, but the man was looking at Viper zealously. If she asked him to commit suicide, he would do it without question. The female ghost's psionic input made herself a god in front of the mercenary leader.

But Viper didn't have the time to check out Isaac. She was too busy talking to Jean.

"Are you sure about this operation? I did some research on New Folsom. This is not an easy nut to crack."

Jean merely smiled and turned to her. "You scared?"

Viper laughed. It was a comforting sound, and a few crew members glanced at her and licked their lips. They immediately turned to mind their own business when she rested her hand on Jean's chin. "Anything for you, my love, but I still don't like the idea of you going in there alone. I should be coming with you."

 _What a waste of resources._ One of the crew members cursed inside.

"Trust me. It's normal for an inspector officer to arrive alone, but if you come with me, the Dominion officers will start wondering why a random officer has a ghost on her security detail. I don't have the time to forge an identity for you either."

"I can go in there cloaked."

"Don't be ridiculous. We both know the place has god knows how many detectors and ghosts. If it was that easy, Tosh would have done it himself."

"Speaking of Tosh, do you trust him? I have heard some news about him. Did you know he was banned from Deadman's Port by the most ruthless mercenaries? How bad does he have to be to be banned by mercenaries that hurt and kill people on a daily basis?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. Tosh needs me." Jean checked her watch and looked up to see Tosh still wasn't here. "Let's go over the plan again. I will enter a dropship and go to the Dominion defensive fleet posing as an inspector tasked with doing spot checks on Dominion ships." The New Folsom planet was covered by asteroid belts, but the Dominion Fleet was resting in a space platform a short distance away from the prison.

"I will ask to inspect the Gorgons. After I enter the bridges, I will deploy a malware to the computers of the ships via a piece of hardware before returning here."

"As soon as I am back, the combined forces of you and Tosh will attack. The Gorgon will be under my control, and our fleets will destroy the Minotaurs. When the sky is cleared, our capital ships will move onto New Folsom and bombard the orbital defenses and ground forces. The bombardment will clear most of the defenders, opening up an opportunity for us to deploy our ground forces, clean the rest of the Dominion forces, and free the prisoners."

"Tosh's ships will stay outside Meinhoff and hold off any potential Dominion reinforcement. Clear?"

"What happens if your identity is compromised? You will be alone and defenseless."

"I'll be fine." Jean's watch held hundreds of Warden units and warbots. It wasn't much, but if Jean needed to, they could hold back the security forces of a battlecruiser as and hopefully buy enough time for her to escape. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell Viper that.

Viper sighed. Jean cupped her hand around her chin and wanted to say something, but suddenly a crew member broke the sweet moment.

"Sir, terran warp signals twelve o'clock."

The first thing Viper did was turn around and stare at the crew member with furious eyes. The man immediately lowered his head. He had no intention of pissing the brooding ghost off.

Under Viper's disappointed eyes, Jean walked to a computer and sent Tosh a communication request. It was patched through quickly.

"I told you I can get some ships. 3 Minotaurs and 6 Behemoth." Jean keenly noticed a drop of blood on his spectre battle suit. Ships, especially capital ships, don't come for free. Obviously Tosh took it by force, not that it was her concern. "Should we proceed with the plan?"

"Yes. Wait for my signal." She gave Viper a gentle kiss on the lips before walking out of the bridge. She was heading directly for the hanger, where a Dominion styled dropship would bring her to her mission.

* * *

A red dropship approached the Dominion port. It was immediately intercepted by a squad of three wraiths. It was only the familiar red plating that prevented the wraiths from shooting the transport out of the sky.

"Dominion dropship, identify yourself."

"This is Inspector Evelyn. I have been sent by Emperor Mengsk himself to inspect the defenses of New Folsom."

With Tosh providing her the Dominion access code, which he gained through whatever method, Jean was able to send the Dominion ships on New Folsom a completely fake identity as well as a fake mission.

Unfortunately, the vessels of the New Folsom Defensive Fleet were in a completely different channel. If she wanted to alter the codes of these ships, she needed a way in first.

"Affirmative sir. Please hold on for a second while I verify your identity." The leading wraith pilot immediately turned from the businesslike tone to a respectful one. An agent sent by the leader of the Terran Dominion himself had a much higher position than a random wraith pilot.

In half a minute, the man accessed the security network and located the corresponding order. "Your identity have been verified, sir, please follow me. I will bring you to the flagship."

Meanwhile, inside Dominion flagship Valiant, a Gorgon class battlecruiser, Admiral Bradley of the New Folsom Defensive Fleet was notified by one of his crew members.

"Inspector? How come I have never heard of this?" Admiral Bradley was a tall man with grey hair in his fifties. He was a former Confederate general, and he didn't hesitate to switch sides when it was clear Dominion domination was imminent. As a turncoat, he wasn't exactly valued by Mengsk. While some generals were living comfortably in core world planets like Korhal, he was sent to be the warden of a prison in nowhere.

Being posted here was boring, and Bradley was certain if his emperor wanted to send someone to him, he would've known about it.

"Soldier, bring her to me." The captain turned to his lieutenant. "Johnson, did we receive orders about this?"

His lieutenant checked something in his computer. "Yes sir. Lieutenant Evelyn of the emperor's personal staff. It says here that all Dominion personnel on site should fully cooperate with her actions. Sorry sir. I don't know how it's been missed before."

Bradley nodded. "I don't want to see something like this happen again. As for this inspector, we'll find out what she is up to soon enough. Lieutenant, go to the hanger and welcome our guest."

"Yes sir."

* * *

As her dropship landed in the hanger of the Valiant, Jean walked out and was immediately welcomed by an officer. "Inspector Evelyn, I am Lieutenant Johnson. I am here under the order of Admiral Bradley." He was a young man in his twenties. Jean noticed his heart beat increased when he saw her. "Please follow me."

Jean nodded. "Thank you, lieutenant."

Two lines of elite marines who Jean presumed were Bradley's personal guards followed Jean and Johnson as they walked down the hall of the ship. It was definitely safe inside the battlecruiser, and Jean realized Bradley only sent the guards to show how powerful he was. After all, she was here to inspect the defenses. Bradley wanted to leave a good impression as early as possible.

It took the two ten minutes to go from the hanger to the bridge. On the way, Johnson kept on trying to get close to Jean. The girl learned a whole lot of useless information about the man, like how he had a father at the place of the head of one of the Dominion Fleets and after a few casual years of serving in the safety of the New Folsom Fleet, his father would have a reason to make him a relatively high ranking officer in his fleet. Jean suspected he was trying to get her to sleep with him.

Not surprising, considering Jean was a hot blonde girl. The fact that she was an inspector sent, and probably trusted, by the emperor of the Terran Dominion himself also helped that. If he could get her, he could get both the girl and a potentially powerful political ally.

Jean carefully played the role of a businesslike officer who only wanted to get the job done and get out of there. If Lieutenant Evelyn was real, she wouldn't be turned to a love puppy in ten minutes.

Finally, they reached the bridge, where Jean saw Admiral Bradley.

"Sir," She saluted. She was still a lieutenant and he was still an admiral. Some basic respect needed to be in place."Inspector Evelyn reporting in, sir. I trust you are aware of my mission here."

"Actually, inspector, I am not sure of your mission." Bradley moved aside and showed a file on the computer screen behind him. "It says here that you are to inspect the network integrity of my fleet. What does that mean?"

"I will examine the security network of your fleet and make sure it can not be hacked. It means I will need access to the core codes of your fleet, including that of your security network and your ship computers."

"That's a lot to ask for." Bradley frowned. "If meticulously altered, these codes can turn the entire fleet on itself."

"With all due respect sir, I do believe you have been instructed to cooperate with me."

Bradley started weighing his options. Deep down he didn't want to give this girl the codes. It would be like handing the fate of the entire fleet away, but he had no choice. What the girl said the next second made him make up his mind.

"Sir," Jean walked a step up and whispered into Bradley's ear. "Sometimes, enemies from the inside are the most dangerous ones."

Bradley's mind immediately started wandering. Enemies from the inside are the most dangerous. What does that even mean? Under this circumstance, this Evelyn must have said it for a reason. What is that reason?

Enemy from the inside are dangerous...so they should be dealt with...how…

Through surveillance…

There hasn't been even an attempt of a prison break on New Folsom in years. Why was this inspector suddenly sent here? The answer was simple. Evelyn wasn't here to inspect the defenses...that was just her cover...she was here to install something else...perhaps a backdoor…

She was here under the command of Emperor Mengsk, so this must be Mengsk's decision. If he refuses to obey, he would be standing against Mengsk…

As a turncoat who only joined Mengsk the last possible moment, Bradley knew he wasn't exactly trusted by the emperor. If he as much as suspects that the Admiral was conspiring against him...Dominion Special Forces wasn't created solely against protoss and zerg, They were as powerful taking down terran enemies as well. Some would even argue they were better at fighting terran.

"I will give you access to the codes now. Feel free to do whatever you want. I will not intervene. Lieutenant?"

Lieutenant Johnson walked up.

"Show Inspector Evelyn to the tech apartment." He threw the young man an encouraging look. "Follow her orders without question."

Johnson smiled and held his hand out politely. Jean thanked Bradley before following the lieutenant out.

This was easier than she expected.


	53. Chapter 53

"So, how did you become a part of the emperor's personal staff?"

A part of Johnson was glad he was sent to accompany Jean. He saw this as an opportunity to take her. She seems cold and serious, but he was confident in his charm.

"It's a long story. Short version, Emperor Mengsk saved my life."

The two stopped by a door guarded by a squad of elite infantry units made up of marines, marauders, and medics. Maybe there was even a ghost somewhere in the shadows. Two auto turrets not only served as fire support but also as detectors.

If Jean needed to get past by force, she would suffer heavy losses, but thankfully this wouldn't be necessary.

Johnson walked up and said something to the leading marine, and quickly the guards stepped aside and let Jean pass.

They went past four more sentry posts before entering a room full of computers. This was the control room of every piece of electronics in the defensive fleet. Right here, Jean could alter the codes of everything from the largest battlecruiser to the smallest cleaning bot.

Dozens of men and women were in front of a line of computers. They were the computer engineers of the fleet. Their sole purpose was to keep someone from doing what Jean was going to do.

Unfortunately, this wasn't their time to shine.

"Admiral Bradley's orders. Everybody out."

"Yes sir." All the guards and engineers stood up and walked out of the room. As the room was clear, the lieutenant turned to Jean.

"I'll be outside. Call me when you're done."

Jean nodded and cracked a small smile. Johnson felt his heart beating harder. He grinned and walked out of the room.

As soon as she was alone, Jean's smile disappeared. She sat down next to one of the computers and started typing.

Her original plan was to mess with some of the non-essential systems of the battlecruisers. When she was making the plan, she assumed the Dominion commander, while believing in her identity, would be more vigilant and keep some computer experts near her when she worked to make sure she was doing what she was here to do.

But the reality was different. This went much better than she imagined. The Dominion commander was misled into thinking she was on a secret mission for Mengsk, and he gave her not only total control but also total privacy. As far as she knew, she wasn't watched.

Still, she didn't let her guard down. Underestimating the enemy was often a one-way ticket to defeat. Perhaps Bradley gave her total privacy, and perhaps the good admiral currently has fifty computer experts watching her every move and was ready to cut her off if she did something she wasn't supposed to.

She reached into her pocket and took out a hard drive. In reality, she swiped her hand on her watch and took out the drive from there. She stuck the drive into one of the access points on the computer.

Immediately, a program previously installed into the drive started functioning. It automatically started to cover up her tracks. As far as others could see on other devices, she was simply cruising through the endless line of codes.

This allowed Jean to do what she really came here to do.

The first system Jean messed with was the communication system. She added two switches. The first allowed her to freely access the Dominion security network. If it came to a frontal assault, the rebel fleet could hear every single one of the Dominion orders and develop countermeasures. The second allowed Jean to manually bring the communication down. Without a way to pass down orders, even the best of the Dominion Fleet would be overwhelmed by confusion.

The second thing Jean altered was the weapon system. The third was the life support system. The fourth was the engine.

The malware Jean inserted was clever but limited. It could cover up a few changes, but if Jean wanted to completely alter the codes, turn the identification of Dominion personnel into enemies, for example, there was nothing it could do. This forced Jean to be short and concise.

Finally, when she was done, Jean walked out of the room. Johnson was already waiting.

"I'm done."

"Wow, you're quick." Johnson rose his eyebrows. "Where are you going now?"

"I have to report back to Emperor Mengsk at once."

Johnson bit his lips. "Are you sure you don't want to take a break? I've got a comfortable place." He wasn't even hiding his desire. It was now or never. If he let Jean go now, there was no telling when he could see her again.

But Jean no longer needed Johnson. Before inserting the malware, she didn't want potential trouble, so she acted like Johnson had a chance. But now she no longer needed him to like her. After all, her job here was done.

"I should be going."

"But…" Johnson's mouth hung wide open, but Jean wasn't listening to him. She needed to go now. The more time she wasted here, the more likely the mercenary fleet would be discovered. She wasn't going to waste that precious time on sleeping with a young officer who would be dead in less than an hour.

Lieutenant Johnson leans back on a wall as the girl walked past them without a second of hesitation.

* * *

Inside the bridge, Admiral Bradley was walking around. He was going over what just happened once again.

Now that he had the time to think about it, he was starting to realize a couple problems.

If Mengsk wanted to establish a secret surveillance system within the fleet, it would be logical for him to order someone over here, but whoever sent here was certainly important. But as far as he could see Jean was alone. She didn't have a single guard with her. Placing himself in Mengsk's shoes, Bradley would've sent at least a squad of special forces with this Evelyn. Even if he wanted to be quiet, a few medium sized ships would work as well. There was no reason to send a single person in a single dropship over.

Jean knew about this problem, but being able to forge the identity of one person didn't mean being able to forge that of twenty. If Jean wanted to do that, she would need to have both a medium sized Dominion ship, at least a dozen Dominion modified equipment and armors, and at least a dozen soldiers experienced enough to pose as Dominion special forces. She could find an abandoned Dominion dropship, but there was no way she could get all those listed above in just a few days.

"Officer," He turned around and said loudly.

"Sir,"

"Send a transmission to Emperor Mengsk's personal staff and confirm Lieutenant Evelyn's identity."

"But sir, we have received direct orders from Emperor Mengsk in regard to Lieutenant Evelyn. Why do we want to..."

"Follow orders."

"Yes sir."

The officer established contact with Dominion High Command. A few minutes later, he looked at Bradley in disbelief.

"Sir, officers from Dominion High Command say Emperor Mengsk has never sent any inspector here."

"Are you sure?"

"I double checked. It's true."

"She's a fake...wait…" Bradley suddenly realized something.

He just gave a potential rebel control of the entire fleet.

"All units on my command! Locate and arrest Lieutenant Evelyn! Computer staff, examine what Evelyn did and reverse it!"

"All ships enter battle stations!" He didn't know who Evelyn really was and who she served, but he knew there was no way this could be good. As far as he knew, there might be an entire fleet waiting outside. He needed to get his fleet ready for combat ASAP.

He was right, only a bit too late.

 _"All units on my command! Locate and…"_

Jean didn't have a comm, but she was able to hear Bradley's orders through a back door she installed in the security channel. She didn't know what that order was exactly, but she did know Bradley sounded mad as hell. As far as she knew there was only one reason behind this.

She was compromised.

Jean wasn't worried or intimidated. She merely tapped a key, and the entire Dominion channel was shut down. Not a single sound could be passed through. The rest of Bradley's orders were cut off.

This should buy her enough time to get out of here. As soon as she was gone, Viper and Tosh could launch the attack.

"Sir, our communication is down." One of the Dominion officers keenly noted.

"What...damn it!" Bradley immediately realized what happened. "Send a runner to the hangar and intercept Evelyn's transport. Don't let that ship take off at all cost! As long as she is still on the ship, it's only a matter of time before we catch her."

"Yes sir!" A marine immediately ran out of the bridge and toward the hangar. His CMC armor allowed him to go faster than normal human beings.

It took Jean ten minutes to go from the hangar to the bridge. For an armored marine it would only take around half that time.

Walking by another dozen of armed marines, Jean found herself standing right in front of the dropship she came here in. An officer walked up to her.

"Sir, how can I help you?"

"Clear the hangar for taking off." A lot of things needed to be done for a ship to leave the hangar. For once, the battlecruiser was in space. A door would be opened up and the outer part of the hangar would be turned to a vacuum. An airtight door would make sure the rest of the hangar wouldn't be stuck in the same situation.

"Yes sir."

The part of the hangar Jean's dropship was in was cleared. Most of the guards and crew members were gone. Only the officer that first talked to Jean and a few guards were left. Jean was about to enter the ship when a marine came running down the halls.

Jean rested her hand next to her sidearm.

"Stop her! She's a spy!"

The officer turned around with a confused look, but Jean acted faster. She grabbed onto the officer's arm with her left hand and took out her weapon with her right. While choking the officer, she pointed her handgun at the marine and fire four shots.

The marine groaned and stumbled. The handgun bullets bounced off his armor. He raised his gauss rifle. He was ordered to take Jean alive, but maimed was alive as well.

But Jean acted even quicker. She pushed the officer forward and shot him in the back before he could stand back up.

Under the cover of the collapsing man, Jean leaped into the dropship. As she shut the door of the ship, she pressed on a computer linked to the ship's hangar door control.

Half a dozen security forces marines, all in red armor, converged upon the dropship. They took aim at once, but before they could open fire, the hanger door suddenly snapped open.

"Oh shit!" One of the marines could only make out one short scream before he was sucked out into the vacuum of space. The life support system on his CMC armor could keep him alive for a few minutes, but it merely denied the inevitable. There was no way the Dominion Fleet had the time, resource, or attention to send out a rescue party for a couple men.

Jean brought the dropship out of the hanger and away from the Dominion Fleet.

"Damn it! Shoot her!" Seeing the dropship from the window of the bridge, Admiral Bradley screamed.

But not a single shot came out. The entirety of the Dominion crew had no choice but to watch the defenseless dropship get away.

"Sir, the weapon systems are offline. We can't fire anything!"

"Damn it!" Bradley turned to his leading computer expert. "Report. Where are you at recovering the functions?" He sent them out as soon as he could.

"The internal defensive system is untouched. The communications and the weapons are offline. What should we prioritize, sir?" The computer expert had no idea those two systems weren't the only ones Jean dealt with. He was good, but Jean came prepared, and he was on a really tight schedule.

"Focus on the weapons. This girl is not working alone. We may be facing an attack."

"Shall we warn New Folsom Prison?"

"Yes. Send a transport to New...wait, send a transport to inform a battlecruiser and tell it to descend to the prison. Tell them to contact the Dominion Fleet and ask for reinforcements. Also, send runners to all the battlecruisers and ask them to enter battle position." Bradley suddenly realized none of his orders could get out of the bridge.

"We might be facing an attack."


	54. Chapter 54

"It has been forty minutes. What's taking her so long?" Viper impatiently circled around the bridge.

On the computer screen, Tosh was equally worried. The only difference was he was worried about Jean for a different reason. "If Miss Turner can't complete her part, our forces will be crushed by the Dominion Fleet." He could back off, but if he did he would've missed his best chance. After this failed attempt the Dominion would either strengthen the defenses or simply execute all the spectres to keep them from being rescued. The time is now.

"If Miss Turner doesn't return in ten minutes, we will push the attack."

"With Jean still aboard?"

"If she doesn't return before that time, she is likely dead, and the Dominion have realized an attack is imminent. We need to strike before they have too much time to prepare."

Viper suppressed her urge to strangle the much larger man. "As a fellow ghost, I am rather curious of your decision to send an untrained personnel to infiltrate the enemy lines. You people call yourselves spectres, the next generation ghosts, but all you do is sit back and let others do your biddings."

"Careful, ghost. I would be more careful with my word choices if I were you." Tosh took out his dagger and started flipping it around with a speed a normal person couldn't even hope to follow.

"Don't threaten me. I…"

"Sir, dropship approaching."

Viper immediately dropped Tosh and turned to the bridge. A communication request appeared on a computer screen next to her. She pushed the crew member aside and patched it through.

She was relieved when she saw Jean's familiar face.

"Mission accomplished." The girl smiled. "I am entering the hangar now. As soon as I'm in, launched the attack."

"And the Dominion Fleet?" On another screen, Tosh heard the conversation between Jean and Viper. He immediately cut in.

"Neutralized. They will not be a problem."

Tosh nodded before turning around and started barking orders at his men. A few minutes later, the entire fleet started moving.

As the fleet moved and Jean's ship entered the safety of the hangar, the girl finally had the time to turn to a computer device. It was connected to the back door she installed in the Dominion network.

She pushed a button.

On the other side, the New Folsom Defensive Fleet responded as quickly as possible. Runners in fighters delivered the orders the old fashioned way as they went from ship to ship, ordering them to prepare for war.

The fleet's network engineers, hundreds of them in total, were working double time on canceling whatever change Jean made. Jean was good, some would even call her a genius, but the engineers weren't useless either. As the best of the Dominion, they might be weaker than Jean, but their numbers made up the difference.

The weapon and communication system was already restored. It seemed like Jean went through all the trouble for nothing.

Hearing the report from his men, Admiral Bradley took a breath of relief. He was shaken for a moment, but the situation was already stabilized.

The fleet was ready for battle. All the systems were restored. The orbital defensive system in Deadman's Port was alerted and in battle position. Ground forces were put on red alert. The mysterious foe that sent this so called Inspector Evelyn has missed the best chance to strike. If they make a move now, they would face a painful defeat.

Then all hell went loose.

In the halls of the ship, unarmored crew members suddenly felt a wave of dizziness overwhelming them. The weaker ones immediately collapsed. They wouldn't be getting up any time soon. The stronger ones leaned on the walls, struggling for breath.

Inside the bridge, Admiral Bradley collapsed in his seat. He was an experienced commander, but he was also an old man. Under the current situation, his brain was giving up.

A few younger officers in the bridge, upon realizing something wasn't right, fought off the discomfort and made a diagnosis on the hull of the ship.

What they discovered was horrifying.

"Sir, the life support systems are offline!"

Unlike protoss, whose plasma shields could deflect anything that might be a threat, and zerg, whose powerful bodies could survive some of the most extreme environments in the sector, human beings were vulnerable. Anything from the vacuum of space to the cold of Kaldir could kill them.

The terran used their technology to solve their problem. From the smallest CMC armor of a marine to a several kilometer long battlecruiser, every piece of terran weapons had a life support system. They protected the users from things like radiation and death by suffocation.

This was what was keeping every soul in the fleet alive, and now it was turned off.

"Sir, it's happening to all our ships! This is not an accident! It's an attack."

Bradley's head grew heavier and heavier. It was as if someone put a ton of metal in his skull.

"Restore it…quickly." He whispered with all his strength.

"Yes sir!" The unarmored crew members were down, but a large portion of the Dominion units were security forces with CMC armors. The armors had their own life support system that kept the men breathing. Dozens of security forces inside the bridge charged toward the central processor chamber where all the engineers were. If they could get to the tech nerds, they might still be able to restore the sabotaged systems.

Imagine their disappointment when they realized the blast door was closed a while ago. The layer of safety that should've kept the enemies out became a trap to seal the friendlies in.

A marine groaned and smashed into the door with all his strength, but the door didn't even buckle. It was designed to hold off enemy boarding parties. The layer of alloy could withstand hours of gauss rifles and zergling claws. Even the psionic blades of protoss zealots needed a while to get through.

Without heavy weaponry, the marines were useless.

All across the fleet men and women collapsed and choked to their death. Marines lived a bit longer with their helmets shut, but their oxygen tanks weren't full either. They were on a patrol mission on a battlecruiser. None of them was equipped for this. Their armors merely delayed the inevitable.

For the first few minutes there were still scattered cries for help, but as time passed, the radio went quieter and quieter.

Eventually, it was silent.

Dead silent.

* * *

As tens of thousands of lives were taken away by Jean's tap of a button, the combined rebel fleet made a move toward the orbit of New Folsom.

Jean was already back in the bridge. Viper gave her a gentle kiss to the forehead as a welcome home reward, but that was it. When the ghost parted, she was once again the elite operative. She knew this was no time to be soft. When she gets this job done and goes back to Deadman's Port, she could be as soft as she wanted to be.

The fleet of thirty nine battlecruisers started dropping in altitude. They were welcomed by the planet's orbital defense system. Jean hacked the fleet's security network, but she didn't have access to the orbital defenses.

Four Drakkhen Pulse Cannons slowly took aim. They were strong enough to threaten capital ships. Missile turrets and Anti-air batteries, in comparison, were less effective, but they were in plentiful numbers and were spread all around the platform. They weren't powerful enough to threaten the battlecruisers, yet they could gun down any transport the rebels send out. The rebel fleet needed to take down most of them before making a move on the prison itself.

But if they do that with the old fashioned bombardment, Dominion reinforcements would likely arrive before that.

Thankfully, the rebels had an expert in prison breaking. Tosh spent years planning for this breakout, and something as crucial as the orbital defenses were already taken into consideration.

Four of Tosh's Behemoth battlecruisers descended against the hail of missiles and occasional pulse cannon rounds. One of them was mortally wounded in the process. A Drakken Pulse round found its way to the ship's fusion core, which exploded and ripped the entire ship into countless fragments. Thousands perished, but neither Jean nor Tosh cared about the losses. The rest of the battlecruisers got into firing position. A line of missile pods were opened up in their bellies.

"Now!" Inside the bridge, Tosh ordered loudly. He was so close to accomplishing his goal…

Twelve nuclear missiles exited the battlecruisers and started flying toward the orbital defenses. Some of the missile turrets retaliated, but they simply weren't enough. One of the nukes was intercepted midair.

That left eleven nukes.

Before long, eleven mushroom clouds rose from the ground. When the smoke cleared, most of the missile turrets, batteries, and one of the Pulse Cannons were gone. Tosh has did his research, and all of the nukes were fired in such a position so that they would destroy as much orbital defenses as possible without endangering the prison itself.

Three of the Drakken Pulse Cannons were still standing, but they were alone. Five dozen vikings were unleashed and quickly overwhelmed the cannons, which were designed to take down capital ships, not agile fighters.

When the ground was cleared, hundreds of dropships and drop pods were launched toward the prison.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the command center of the New Folsom Prison, Nova glanced at the scanners, which showed the rebel fleet ravaging through the missile turrets and pulse cannons.

After making the deal with Raynor, she and her special forces came here. Their purpose was not only to keep Tosh from reaching his spectres but also delay him long enough for Raynor to take out his base. Unfortunately, this job seemed even more difficult than she imagined.

"Sir, the orbital defenses are done."

A ghost walked in. He looked similar to any other Dominion ghost, but he was not just any ghost. He was a Specs Ops ghost. The best in the entire Dominion, he could easily take on a spectre and win. There were thousands of ghosts in the Dominion, but there were only a couple dozens Specs Ops ghosts. A squad of them was worth an entire battlecruiser. Mengsk only sent them out because Tosh was a legit threat to his safety.

"Have we resumed contact with the fleet?"

"Negative. All of the scouts we sent have been shot down. We have no idea what's going on up there, but if the rebel fleet is already in orbit...we should plan for the worst, as unlikely as it is."

Nova had a few agents in Deadman's Port, and she was able to come up with a rough estimate of the strength of the rebel fleet. According to tactical analysis, as long as Admiral Bradley didn't make a fatal mistake, the Dominion fleet should come out on top. If the rebel fleet tried to force its way onto the prison, it will attacked by both the orbital defenses and the fleet. Nova wouldn't even need to wait for the Raiders to do their job to take down Tosh.

But look at the rebel fleet now. They don't seem to have fired a single shot. But how's that possible? It's not like the defensive fleet would simply let an entire fleet of rebel ships get past without even trying to stop them, right?

"Should we call in the Alpha Squadron?" The Specs Ops ghost asked.

Emperor Mengsk's order was to make sure Tosh couldn't leave New Folsom, and Nova made according plans. This prison was a bait. When Nova confronted Tosh, she was telling him his only opportunity to attack the prison was now. She knew he would come.

Now all she needed to do was keep him from running. Even someone as well protected as Mengsk didn't want to be constantly threatened by a bullet from a distance away everytime he goes out of his palace. An elite rogue killer who wanted him dead was a deadly threat.

The plan was to lure Tosh and his allies to attack the prison. The New Folsom Defensive Fleet and the orbital defense systems would retaliate but would ultimately be held off by the rebel fleet. The rebel ground forces would land on the prison and be held back by the Dominion security forces.

And then Nova would call in the Alpha Squadron, a fleet made up of two Gorgons and 15 Minotaurs. With the help of the Defensive Fleet, the Alpha Squadron would wipe out the rebel fleets. Knowing Tosh, Nova knew the spectre would get in the field himself, which meant he couldn't get away the first sign of trouble.

With the rebel fleet down and the Dominion fleet securing the skies, Tosh would have no way to go. That would be when her Dominion Special Forces would come in. Reinforcements from the New Folsom Defensive Fleet and Alpha Squadron would arrive as well. The combined power of the Dominion ground forces would wipe out every rebel on the ground of the prison.

Tosh was a powerful spectre, but against dozens of ravens, several Spec Ops ghosts, an army, two fleets, and Nova herself, he wouldn't stand a chance.

It was a carefully crafted plan, but Nova didn't expect it to go wrong in the first step. The New Folsom Defensive Fleet should've at least pretended to be protecting the prison and should've held back at least a large portion of the rebel fleet.

It didn't take the best ghost in the entire Dominion to realize something was seriously wrong.

At this point, tactically speaking, the wisest decision would be calling in the Alpha Squadron and secure the prison, but Nova was thinking more than tactically. Alpha Squadron's presence would likely scare off the rebels, and it would be god knew how long before she could get another opportunity to take down Tosh.

"That's a negative. Tell Alpha Squadron to maintain current position and wait for further orders."


	55. Chapter 55

Hundreds of drop pods smashed into the northern side of the prison. Mercenaries poured out. A few spectres were spread out among them.

"Open fire!"

The Dominion security forces weren't blind. As soon as the rebel fleet started bullying the orbital defenses, the ground forces were being deployed throughout the prison. Over ten thousand combatants spread out across the field. A significant amount of mobile units were ready to reinforce any spot where enemies were sighted.

Four drop pods landed in an open platform. Already a ring of marines in red was converging. Following the orders of the officer, they quickly opened fire on the metal transports.

Most of the bullets hit the hull of the drop pods. The pods themselves were designed to withstand both the hostile atmosphere and the impact of landing. It took much more than a few gauss bullets to take them out. Realizing that problem, the marines turned to the exits of the pods.

The rebels couldn't hide forever. Even if they do, more reinforcements were on the way. Goliaths and siege tanks could turn the drop pods into metal coffins.

Just like the Dominion soldiers imagined, a mercenary marine charged out of the door with his combat shield raised, not that it mattered. The moment he stepped out, half a dozen Dominion marines fired at the same time. Hundreds of bullets ripped through the armor and the man inside.

The second marine came out. He had no choice. His gauss rifle started blasting as soon as he could. One of the Dominion marines' combat shield wasn't in place, and a series of bullets went through his helmet, but the rest opened fire as once. The second marine collapsed.

"Nice job, men. Show these criminals the might of the Dominion….ah!" The officer encouraged through the radio, but the next second his words turned into a scream. The marines turned around and found the man dead on the ground with a bullet in the head.

"Where did that come from...Ahhh! My head!"

Out of nowhere, an ultrasonic pulse came out and landed in the middle of the crowd of marines. Immediately, every single marine in the blast radius felt their brains exploding. They weren't killed, but all of them lost control to their bodies. If it wasn't for their armor they would've been on the ground already.

Unfortunately, standing didn't mean anything as the mercenary marines poured out of the drop pods. The few marines unaffected by the pulse fought back, but they were quickly overwhelmed. As for the knocked out marines...it was always a pleasure to gun down targets who couldn't shoot back.

When the last Dominion marine fell, the spectre was already gone.

All across the field Dominion forces retaliated against the invading mercenaries. As the defenders, the Dominion had heavy mech units while the mercenaries mainly had infantries.

Siege tank shells were fired at drop pods. A single shell could turn an entire drop pod into a ball of flames, killing everyone inside. Even if the shell itself missed, the impact it generated could send the mercenaries flying.

But in comparison to siege tanks, goliaths were the MVP. When the drop pods were in the air, the goliaths' Hellfire missiles could unleash, well, hellfire upon the pods. Even after the drop pods landed, the mech's autocannons could tear them open.

But the rebels weren't sitting duck either. In fact, some would even say they have an advantage.

"Area 3D. Bunker."

A string of laser batteries from one of the Minatour battlecruisers changed that.

"Area 8B. Multiple siege tanks."

The siege tanks exploded.

"Area 49D. Dominion reinforcement."

Three bright orange balls of energy came down from the sky and burned the crowd of marines and marauders alive. The men and women barely made out a scream before being evaporated.

The New Folsom Defensive Fleet was dead. The orbital defenses were taken out. The rebel fleet had full dominance over the skies of the prison. This allowed them to fire freely. Nuclear weapons would defeat the purpose of the _rescue_ mission, but a carefully placed laser battery could take out Dominion heavy weaponry with ease and turn the tide of battle.

The Dominion fought bravely, but rebel forces were starting to gain a foothold. Drop pods after drop pods have converged, forming an army. A few modified drop pods deployed a dozen rebel goliaths and siege tanks, which only solidified the rebel front even more.

"Sir, should we call in the fleet now!" Once again, the Spec Ops ghost asked.

In front of him and Nova, a large screen showed the situation of the entire prison. Red dots signaling Dominion presence were gradually decreasing, replaced by blue dots representing the rebels.

"Wait. Tosh has not been sighted in the field. We can't afford to miss." Nova didn't let the disappearing dots affect her judgment. Every dot represented hundreds of Dominion soldiers, and the fact that they were disappearing meant hundreds of lives were lost in just minutes.

"How do we know he'll show his face?"

"Tosh wants to be the savior of his people. There's no way he's giving up the chance to be the first face they see. Keep your eyes and ears open for anyone that matches his description."

"Yes sir, but don't you think that's too passive?"

"What do you suggest?"

"Tosh is not getting in the field because he doesn't need to, but if we give him a reason…" The Specs Ops ghost looked at Nova. "if you can appear in the battlefield and show Tosh you are here, he might be willing to come down here and try to take you out."

The Specs Ops ghost was slightly hesitated in giving that idea. Even for someone as trained as Nova, the battlefield like this was a dangerous place. A random tank shell could kill her. But the neural chip in his brain was working, and he was forced to say and do what was best for the Dominion.

The same type of chip functioned inside Nova's brain, and the female ghost recognized this idea was good for the Dominion. Just that was enough to make her forget about the dangers.

Without another word, she stood up, grabbed onto her rifle, and walked out of the command center.

* * *

"Sir, the Dominion are falling back. Our forces are converging upon the inner halls that hold the prisoners. We are taking heavy losses, but we are pushing through."

"Good."

"Another thing, sir." The mercenary officer in the field looked at a body beside him. It was a spectre, and its head was blasted open. "One of your men is dead, sir."

Tosh realized the officer wasn't talking about some random mercenary. The only reason he would call him would be because it was a spectre that was killed. More likely, the spectre is not killed by a blind grenade or a random siege tank shell.

"He was taken out by a shot in the head, sir."

"Nova." Tosh immediately connected the dots. Nova knew he would come here and one of his spectres was just sniped. Normal ghosts couldn't kill spectres with such an overwhelming advantage. "She's provoking me." He smirked. "A big mistake." He grabbed onto his rifle and walked out of the bridge.

It was likely a trap, but neither Jean nor Viper stopped him. Viper didn't stop him because she didn't care. Jean didn't say anything because she knew Tosh wouldn't listen.

That's the problem with the psionically enhanced. They were used to be the ones with overwhelming power. The knowledge of being able to kill almost anyone they wanted to made them arrogant. Was Tosh really stupid enough to think this was anything but a trap? That man was an elite covert operative who has fought in more battles than Jean could imagine. If Jean could see it, so could he.

But Tosh still went? Why? He went because he was confident he was strong enough to kill Nova and keep himself unscratched.

What else could Jean do?

Tosh was on the ground. Viper was controlling the attack. Instead of aimlessly worrying about something she couldn't control, Jean turned her attention to the New Folsom Defensive Fleet, or at least the former New Folsom Defensive Fleet.

The Gorgon and 14 Minotaurs were hers now. Through the malware she installed, Jean could see everyone on it was dead. If the lack of oxygen didn't kill the men, the radiation Jean let into the hulls of the ship did.

At this point all Jean needed to do was make a few modifications to the ships and install a Warden AI, and she would find herself with an entire fleet to work with.

Unfortunately, this was not something she could do right now.

Yes, Jean knew this was a trap by the Dominion. In fact she doubted if any player in this field honestly thought this was not a trap. Nova. Tosh. But all of them were willing to jump into this trap because they believed they could come out on top in the end.

Jean didn't know what Nova's card was, but she was fairly certain whatever it was, it could make the orbit of the planet a deadly place. That was not where she wanted to keep fifteen ships that could be turned to her personal fleet but were currently defenseless.

Fortunately, she made a discreet change to the ships' warp drives. They were programmed to jump to a set of coordinates she entered.

She tapped a set of numbers into her computer, and the next second the fifteen metal tombs disappeared.

* * *

On the ground.

"This is Nova. Tosh is in the field! Spring the trap now!"

"Yes sir."

The Specs Ops ghost agent complied. The sound of guns firing in the background of Nova's radio explained to him how Nova knew that.

All across the prison, hundreds of figures emerged from underground covers. They were mostly infantry units like marines, marauders, medics, and ghosts, but anyone who knew who these units also knew they were not to be messed with.

They were soldiers of the Dominion Special Forces.

If a list was to be made about the strengths of different Dominion forces, then Dominion Special Forces would be on the top, along with Mengsk's personal guards.

Special forces soldiers were recruited from already established armed forces. Scouts. Officers. Lower leveled special forces. Even commanders' personal guards. They already had the experience, skill, and training when they first joined.

To complement the software, Dominion engineers equipped them with the best hardware and technology across the sector. Everything about them, whether it was armors, weapons, or other equipment, were the peak of terran technology.

Just look at the elite marines. The gauss rifles of elite marines held twice the punch of standard marine gauss rifles. Their armor could hold off half a dozen banelings before showing the first sign of falling apart. Apart from the basics, they had enhanced stim packs, capable of not only greatly enhancing the speed, strength, and reflexes of the users but also quickening their cellular regeneration, and laser targeting systems, which provided the elite marines with detection and warned them of enemy presence. A single elite marine could crush half a dozen standard Dominion marines without even endangering himself.

Not to mention the marauder commandos, elite medics, and Specs Ops ghosts. A couple strike goliath towered over the slightly shorter infantry soldiers.

There were only a couple hundred Special forces here, but they were enough.

As soon as they appeared, the Special forces opened fire.

"Take these bastards out!" One of the mercenary officers who saw the Special forces didn't think anything of it. As far as he could tell they were just a group of random Dominion soldiers, and he had hundreds of mercenaries and two spectres by his side.

That changed as soon as the two sides opened fire.

Dominion elite marines positioned their combat shields at a degree so they provided maximum protection without stopping them from firing. Mercenary rounds hit their combat shields and were stopped. The impact they carried, weakened by the shield and the armor, barely made the elite marines buckle. A few shots went by the shields, but the armors took care of that.

The elite marines retaliated, and mercenary marines were mowed down like a grass field in front of a lawnmower. Their armor shattered like paper in front of the modified gauss rifles.

The two spectres the mercenaries relied on failed the trust placed on them. In fact, they were among the first casualties. Five Spec Ops ghosts turned the two assassins into two headless bodies.

The officer that spoke never had a chance to realize how dumb he was. A railgun from a marauder commando went through the marine in front of him, went through him, and dropped another marauder before collapsing.

Within just minutes, that squad of over two hundred mercenaries was taken out. The Special Forces didn't lose a single man.

This was going to be a difficult fight.


	56. Chapter 56

At this point, a single orbital strike from one of the battlecruisers could cost the Dominion countless credits worth of equipment and personnel.

But Nova would never make such an easy mistake.

"Sir, warp signals appearing! They are identified as Dominion Fleet Alpha Squadron!"

"All ships belay the bombardment and prepare to engage the enemy fleet." Jean ordered calmly. While just a single orbital strike could obliterate the Special Forces down there, it would come with a great cost. It would take time to go from ordering the hit to the battery actually firing.

It wasn't much, but the Dominion Fleet would've been out of warp space by then. If just a single rebel battlecruiser was focused on bombing the ground, it would be defenseless against the Dominion.

The rebel needed all the ships they had to buy as much time for Tosh and the rebel strike team in the prison as possible. Dominion Special Forces were powerful, but they were a long way from where Tosh and the spectre prisoners were.

"Copy that. All ships enter battle formation." When Tosh left, he told his captains to obey one of his spectre's order. The man didn't trust Jean enough to hand her the command of his ships. Thankfully, the spectre worked well with Jean.

The 38 battlecruisers retreated from bombardment formation and formed a slightly tighter position. They were positioned close enough so they wouldn't be picked off one by one but still distant enough so Yamato Cannons and other weapons could be fired.

A few seconds later, seventeen battlecruisers appeared a safe distance away. Their red plating shined.

"Jean, two Gorgons and fifteen Minotaurs." Viper glanced at the scanner and finished reading it in less than a second. "We can't fight that many ships."

Just looking at the numbers, the rebel fleet outnumbered Alpha Squadron two to one, but numbers weren't the only thing that matters in war. Otherwise two fleets don't even need to fight. All they have to do is sit down and compare the numbers and the side with fewer ships can just surrender.

Dominion battlecruisers were the product of the best of the Dominion. Perhaps Mengsk would turn a blind eye at the corruption of civil funds, but he wasn't foolish enough to allow greedy officials to take money that should be spent on fleets for themselves. It would be suicide. In reality, inside the Dominion, the punishment for corruption of military funds was death. The only thing debatable was whether or not the accused would get a trail.

Every single Dominion battlecruiser had full armor, all the laser batteries that should be on a battlecruiser, and all the gadgets such as Yamato Cannon, defensive matrix, missile pods, tac fighters, and multiple warp drives. Every ship had not only a substantial number of security forces but also a series of turrets of all sorts. Anyone that tried boarding them would find themselves in a death trap.

More importantly, most of the rebel fleet was made up of Behemoth battlecruisers. These ships were from the days of the Confederacy. In contrast to the Dominion Minotaurs, these Behemoth were infamous for their weakness in battle. During the Brood War, fleets after fleets of Behemoth were wiped out by zerg mutalisks and scourges, which were equivalent to terran vikings and wraiths.

After the mercenaries acquired these ships, they did all they could to modify them. Engines were made to function at twice the speed they were designed to. Countless more guns were added to the vessel's side. Spikes were added onto the armors. The last bit was for pure intimidation.

But even so, the rebel ships could barely match the Dominion ones, and that was not counting in the two Gorgons. If the two Gorgons joined the fight, their armor would be impenetrable to the rebel batteries. Perhaps a barrage of Yamato Cannons focused at the same position could heavily damage one of the Gorgons, but the newest neosteel armor of these ships made Jean doubt the Gorgons would fall in one round of cannons.

This was a tough one.

Viper looked at Jean, fully expecting her to pull up some plan of victory, but this time she was disappointed.

"There's no easy way out of this. We need to hold them off the hard way."

Jean was out of options. There was no way she could do deal with Alpha Squadron the same way she dealt with New Folsom Defensive Fleet. The latter was a local defensive fleet while the former was under the command of Mengsk himself. There was no way she could impose as someone sent by Mengsk and infiltrate the fleet.

She still had the vessels of the New Folsom Defensive Fleet, one Gorgon and 14 Minotaur, but she need to make a lot of changes to them before they could be used in combat. As for now the only thing they could do was act as metal shields.

She considered boarding the ships, but the drop pods would simply hit the Gorgons' armor and explode. Maybe she could still board the Minotaurs and, assuming she was lucky, the Gorgons, and assuming the drop pods could survive the web of Dominion fighters and anti air guns, the boarding parties would simply be slaughtered inside the ships.

A fleet as large as this certainly has detections, so spectres and wraiths were rendered useless. She had a few nuclear missiles, but they would no doubt be intercepted in mid-air.

It would be a tough fight, but neither Jean nor Viper had a choice. Jean didn't want to abandon Tosh, at least not when she could save him, and Viper did whatever Jean said.

And fight they did.

The Alpha Squadron acted without even bothering to communicate with the rebels. Minotaurs battlecruisers formed a line while the Gorgon flagship was in the center. Vikings, wraiths, and tac fighters came out of the battlecruisers' hangers and covered the gaps between the capital ships.

"Launch all fighters. All cruisers advance. Send a transmission to Tosh and tell him to hurry up."

The fighters on both sides were the first to engage. Mercenary styled wraiths and vikings chased after and were chased by their Dominion counterparts. Dominion fighters were more advanced, but mercenary ones were modified. Dominion pilots were well trained, and mercenary pilots were experienced and ruthless. Both sides had similar numbers, and somehow the battle was even...until the slower battlecruisers came in.

ATA laser batteries covered the field. Under the highly advanced computer AIs, not a single battery hit a Dominion fighter. Every single one of them either missed or hit a mercenary ship. The power of these batteries meant a few shots could kill a fighter.

Mercenary cruisers moved forward in an attempt to retaliate, but an officer in Jean's flagship suddenly cried out.

"Dominion Yamato Cannons charging up!" She was so frightened she forgot about addressing Jean.

"Enable defensive matrixes now!"

Jean's order was given quickly, but the mercenaries weren't the most obedient soldiers in the sector. In a normal situation they could still listen to and follow their leader's orders, but in the midst of combat most of the crew members were attracted to the battlefield. A few men manning the communication device were staring out the window at the cluster of fighters in front. After all, rules and disciplines weren't exactly familiar to these killers for hire.

Only a few battlecruisers activated their defensive matrixes on time when the Yamato Cannons arrived. Some of the battlecruisers didn't hear the order. Others heard it, but they didn't even have that piece of equipment in the first place.

Following three explosions, three Behemoth battlecruisers and one Minotaur fell apart.

During the battle against the Tal'darim, the rebel fleet had overwhelming firepower, and they massacred the Tal'darim destroyers and carriers, but now the table was turned. The Dominion fleet had the upper hand, and the rebels were the ones being beaten down and stomped on.

"All ships push forward. Ready Yamato Cannons."

"Sir!" A surprised voice cut off Jean's command. A normal captain would be pissed off, but Jean wasn't normal. She merely turned to the crew member with a patient look.

"What is it?"

"One of the Dominion Gorgons is gone."

It took Jean a while to realize what was happening. The Gorgon warped away. Why? It obviously didn't flee. It was obvious it warped away for tactical purposes...which meant…

"Sir, warp signal inside our lines. It's the Gorgon!"

"Damn it." Viper silently cursed. "Jean?"

"All ships fire on that Gorgon ASAP."

Jean ordered, but she knew it was likely useless.

A short ranged jump into the enemy fleet was a quick way to engage the enemies in a close quarter combat, whether it was by short ranged batteries or by launching drop pods. But there was a reason this wasn't a standard tactic. If a battlecruiser wanted to jump inside a fleet of enemy battlecruisers and launch drop pods, the first thing it needed to do was make sure it survived long enough. Normally, the firepower of an entire fleet could obliterate a single ship in just seconds.

But if that one battlecruiser was a Gorgon and the fleet was made up of outdated Behemoths and Minotaurs…that would be a completely different story.

The moment the Gorgon appeared, thousands of orange blasts landed on it, but all of them simply bounced off the enhanced armor of the vessel. The damage they did, if any, was ignored.

The Gorgon retaliated. It was in the middle of the mercenary fleet, which meant all of its guns, not matter the direction they were facing, could open fire and hit a target.

"Sir, we are taking heavy damage! We need to fall back now!"

"Where's reinforcement? Our guns aren't working!"

"I didn't join so I can die for you, Isaacs! Do something or I will get the hell out of here!"

Mercenaries were ruthless and would risk their lives for money, but this was too much. In the past, no matter how deadly the situation was, there was always a way out. But this time it was different. The captains have did everything they could, some of them even sent out suicide bombers, but all of these attempts were futile.

Almost all of the captains were getting ready to bolt. Dominion personnel could fight until their last dying breath, but mercenaries were completely different. They could fight recklessly when they were at an advantage or even when the situation was eve, but when defeat was imminent, they had no incentive to fight until the end.

All they were waiting for was an order from their leader to make this retreat legitimate.

"Hold your line!" A normal commander would have reconsidered his position, but Isaacs, still under the effect of the mind control, merely glanced at Viper. When she didn't say anything, he held his ground. This might shake his authority and weaken his rule over the mercenaries, but he didn't care. He would gladly give up everything, including both his power and his life, for Viper.

The captains were slightly taken back. All of them complied, but what was really going on in their heads was unknown.

The Gorgon was wrecking up quite the damage, but what was more important was what it did to the overall situation.

The sudden jump from the capital ship occupied almost all of the attention of the mercenary battlecruisers. As the mercenary ships were forced to shoot at the Gorgon, the Dominion ones pushed forward and started slaughtering mercenary fighters.

Without support and hopelessly outgunned, mercenary fighters were practically defenseless. When they tried to pull back, the Dominion fighters chased after them relentlessly.

Hundreds of fighters came out of the mercenary ships' hangers. Two dozen returned.

"Tosh, where are you? We need to pull back now."

Seeing the casualty report, Jean turned on the transmission with Tosh and demanded. They needed to retreat now. Even if Tosh agreed to leave now, she might need to sacrifice a few ships to make sure the rest could get to safety. If Tosh insisted on waiting longer, Jean would be forced to leave him. Spectres were good, but dying wasn't.

"That's fine. I've got what I came for. Bring in the transports now." Above a field of dead Dominion marines and beside a destroyed Dominion siege tank, Tosh replied. Mercenaries that survived the attack were opening the spectre cells. Men and women in orange prison jumpsuits came out. They weren't in the best state, but their white eyes showed their identity as psionic warriors.

A distance away, gunshots came closer and closer. Dominion Special Forces were slaughtering their way past whatever mercenary unlucky enough to be in their way.

But they were late to the party.


	57. Chapter 57

A mercenary marine collapsed with his upper body gone.

"Tosh's transports!" Nova, with a stain of red on her armor, looked up into the air and yelled. Above her, a dozen dropships with extra plating, along with half a dozen escorts, made their way toward the holding cells of the prison. Nova knew what it meant.

Tosh was getting away.

"Soldiers, move forward! Get to Tosh at all cost!" Nova knew she couldn't afford to wait. If she kept on advancing with the current speed, Tosh would be long gone by the time she arrives.

The Specs Ops ghost next to her immediately stand up. A distance away, a mercenary goliath was blasting at the Special Forces. It was the only thing that allowed the mercenary biological forces to somewhat delay the Special Forces ones. Autocannons could pin down the elitist marines.

But that was about to change. The ghost spent half a second to aim before firing a single EMP round onto the goliath. Electric sparks exploded all over the unit and crippled it.

Without the suppressing fire, Dominion elite marines pushed forward and blasted over everything in their way.

Meanwhile, the dropships landed in front of Tosh.

"Move move move!" All the mercenaries and spectres ran inside. Just the number of mercenaries sent to the prison alone was much more than the dropships could hold, but most of them perished. In order to breach the prison ASAP, Tosh forced his men to charge forward without caring about the losses. After Tosh crushed three marines who refused to comply, the rest charged into the hail of bullets like they were made of steel.

Siege tanks shells exploded in the middle of the lines and ripped apart dozens of marines and marauders with every blast. Goliath autocannons ripped through combat shields, CMC armors, and human flesh. Mercenary gauss rifles were deflected by Dominion bunkers while the red marines inside fired back in safety.

If the mercenaries weren't as elite as they were, if Tosh hasn't single handedly slaughter more than a dozen Dominion mechanical units and crush at least four bunkers, the rebels would be very dead.

Tosh was the last to enter. When all the ships were packed, they lifted off into the air.

"Shoot them down!" At this moment, Nova and her men arrived. The ghost was heavily injured, the cornered mercenaries launched everything they had at the Special Forces, but she was still standing. The inhibitor chip in her brain ensured that she would value her mission over her own health and safety. Plus, the medical technology the Special Forces had could return her to full health in just hours.

Every single Special Forces unit opened fire, but they were too late. Gauss bullets merely bounced off the rear plating of the ship. One of the Specs Ops ghost fired an EMP round, but the afterburners of the dropships pushed the ships forward at a painstaking speed. The EMP missed by a significant difference.

Nova could only watch as the ships leave. She had a few goliaths under her command, but they were much slower than the stimmed marines and marauders. Following the clanking sound of metal legs hitting metal floor, the three strike goliaths finally arrived, but the transports were already nowhere to be seen.

It was disappointing, but Nova made a last ditch effort. "Admiral Princeton, rebel transports are retreating back to the fleet. Intercept them. This is the first priority!"

She was too late.

The dozen or so dropships entered a rebel battlecruiser. As soon as they were in place, the entire rebel ship warped away, leaving the Dominion with one less fleet and a destroyed prison.

* * *

At the end of the day, the rebels came out on top.

Tosh recovered dozens of spectres. If used well, they could accomplish more than an entire fleet. The large assassin would gladly trade the ships he took by force for these covert agents. Jean gained an entire fleet, including one of the most advanced capital ships in all the terran factions. Viper earned Jean's appreciation. All three got what they wanted.

The Dominion side was the direct opposite. New Folsom Defensive Fleet mysteriously disappeared. The spectres Mengsk sacrificed countless ghosts to capture were freed and would quickly return as enemy combatants. Special Forces took some losses.

More importantly, the New Folsom Prison was destroyed. Countless Dominion troopers were killed in action, but that wasn't the problem either. What really stung was how hundreds of prisoners were caught in the crossfire.

New Folsom Prison was one of the top secret facilities of the Dominion. You don't get put there for committing theft. People get placed there when they were so valuable that even the Dominion wasn't willing to execute them. Given the Dominion's willingness to execute rebels and traitors without anything resembling due process, this said something.

That was why when Nova walked through Mengsk's royal palace, she wasn't exactly happy.

Two lines of Sons of Korhal elite marines were on the side, but they were just the first line of defense. Nova could sense multiple Spec Ops ghosts in the shadow. Despite her being one of the Dominion operatives, she could sense several sniper rifles trained on her.

She wasn't surprised. The emperor's personal guards were trained to treat everyone as a potential threat. She would do the same thing if she was on guard duty.

Two marines opened the blast door, and Nova walked into the throne room.

There, behind a large desk and in front of a portrait, sat Arcturus Mengsk.

The Emperor of the Terran Dominion. The man that betrayed Kerrigan and condemned to the fate of the killer of millions. Raynor's nemesis.

Mengsk spoke with a dark tone. He was past the point of needing to act friendly.

"Nova, you have disappointed me." He hissed.

Nova wasn't intimidated. Her neural inhibitor sealed off most of her emotion, leaving an endless sea of logic. She could commit suicide if Mengsk wanted to, and a simple question didn't frighten her.

"I apologize, your majesty. Tosh has proven to be stronger than I anticipated."

Mengsk frowned. He knew how capable Nova was. To a degree she was as powerful as Kerrigan, when she was a ghost, of course. She rarely makes mistakes, and if she did she must've had a reason. "Explain."

"Tosh had help. Someone disabled the New Folsom Defensive Fleet, cutting our ship count in half and buying the rebels enough time for the ground forces to break through. If we had two fleets instead of one, the rebels would have crumbled."

"I don't want excuses."

"With all due respect, your majesty, that was not an excuse. We need to take down Tosh, and his ally can be a threat. We need to take down the ally first before we can make a move on the spectre."

"Speaking of the spectre," Mengsk stood up and circled around Nova. "I hope you can explain your deal with Raynor."

"I can. Tosh's battle base, Avernus Station, is located at a territory between the Terran Dominion, Umojan Protectorate, and the Kel-Morian Combine. The Dominion Fleet can't attack without risking to start a full scale war, and the Dominion can't afford a war with the Kel-Morian and the Umojan. I needed someone with no tie to the Dominion and capable enough to take down a heavily guarded battle station. Raynor had both the ability and the incentive to do that."

"Raynor is an enemy of the Dominion and a traitor to humanity. Conspiring with him is treason." Mengsk's expression was blank. There was no hint of what he was really thinking. In the shadows, the sound of rifles clicking made Nova turn slightly.

"I was tasked with terminating Tosh. I was merely following your orders."

Mengsk remained there for a few minutes before finally nodding.

"You did good, but not good enough. Tosh must die." If the people of the Dominion could see the emperor now, they would be overwhelmed by shock. The comparison between a wise, caring leader and someone who condemned another human being to death was quite drastic.

"The rebel fleet has retreated. Faced with both the fleet and the battle station at the same time, even Raynor can't seize the platform. The spectre will have an army of elite spectres and an entire fleet. He will not hesitate to use them against me. You talked about his ally. What do we know about him and how can we destroy him."

"The entire New Folsom Defensive Fleet mysteriously disappeared. We have no idea what happened, but reports came in that an officer from the fleet requested confirmation on a royal inspector….sent by you, your majesty."

"I have never sent anyone to New Folsom."

"Correct. This mysterious inspector must be connected to the attack. She might be an agent of Tosh. In fact, she might be the ally."

"She?"

Nova tapped something on her wristband, and Mengsk saw an image sent to his personal PC. He opened it.

The image showed a blonde woman in a Dominion uniform. A fleet officer sent it to the emperor's personal crew when confirming Jean's identity.

"Who is she?"

"I don't know, but I will find out, and when I do, I will hunt her down, find out her connection with Tosh, and terminate her."

"Wait." Surprisingly, Mengsk suddenly stopped Nova. "You said she somehow made the entire New Folsom Fleet disappear."

"Yes your majesty."

"How?"

"That is still unknown."

"In that case, track her down, but don't kill her. Take her alive and bring her to me." Mengsk tapped Jean's image. "She might be useful. If she can take down an entire Dominion fleet, she can also take down a Kel-Morian fleet or an Umojan fleet."

"Yes your majesty."

* * *

The rebel fleet exited warp space near Deadman's Port.

"A mission well done, you have my thanks, Miss Turner." Tosh's face appeared on the comm. Even he couldn't hide a smile.

"Miss Turner. I like that." Viper grinned. She didn't care about Tosh and his mission, but she was glad Jean was unharmed.

Jean smiled as well. "Now what?"

"I have received report from my boys back in Avernus Station. The Raiders have launched an attack, but my orbital defenses kept his ship back. I need to retreat and push them away. The Dominion also did something to my spectres. I need time to get them back to fighting shape."

"So you're leaving? I thought you promises to join Jean." Viper frowned. As much as she didn't care about Tosh, she wasn't going to see Jean being tricked into risking her life for nothing.

"I will regroup and meet you when I'm ready, but as an act of friendship, I am sending you some gift."

"Sir, friendly transports approaching."

"Check it out."

A squad of transports entered the hanger of Isaac's mercenaries' flagship. A dozen marines approached carefully. In the cover, a large army of security forces were armed and ready. Tosh's men were allies, but there was little, if not none, honor among thieves. They might be fighting side by side one minute and be killing each other the next.

They were relieved when they found twenty unmanned mech.

"Sir, the transports unloaded twenty vehicles. They seem to be...diamondbacks."

"Diamondbacks?" Viper rose her eyebrows.

Diamondbacks were first designed by the Terran Confederate. They possessed a pair of eviscerator rail guns, which were capable of punching through most armored enemies and could be fired while the diamondback moving. Its mobility earned it a place in the arsenal of multiple factions, including the Dominion and Mira's Marauders. Jean remembered seeing a report of a group of diamondbacks being stored at New Folsom. Tosh must've acquired them at some point.

Jean didn't see these mech when Tosh and his spectres left, so she imagined Tosh discovered the diamondbacks while attacking, ordered a few transports to the prison, and brought the diamondbacks away when the fight was still going on.

The twenty diamondbacks could be of great use. It was certainly enough to allow Jean to temporarily lose the support of Tosh.

"Fine, but when you are ready to join me, you know where to find me."

"Very well, Miss Turner." Tosh nodded and closed off his comm.

"I don't think he'll come back. He used you to get what he needed, and now you are no longer useful to him. Someone like Tosh has no honor." Viper noted as the mercenary fleet started returning to Isaac's platform.

"Perhaps," Jean nodded. She wasn't foolish enough to think Tosh would serve her just because of a deal. Then again, they had a common enemy. As long as the Dominion stood, they were still allies. Plus..."but who said I didn't use him?"

Viper's eyes widened. At that end of the day, Jean didn't really come home empty ended.

She had the ships of an entire Dominion Fleet. She had twenty diamondbacks. She even made a name for herself by taking down a heavily defended Dominion prison. A lot of people would want to hire her for certain jobs.

It was hard to say who used who.

"Come with me," Jean grabbed onto Viper's hand. "I'll show you something."


	58. Chapter 58

One Gorgon. Fourteen Minatours.

These fifteen ships carried tens of thousands of Dominion soldiers. They could take down an entire system. If they were to take on Kerrigan, without the support of her swarm, they might win, but the entirety of this fleet was slaughtered without firing a single shot.

When Jean twisted the codes, she messed with the weapon and communication system, but that was mainly a distraction. A decoy to draw the attention of Dominion computer engineers. In reality, she took control of the life support system.

As soon as she could, she turned off all the systems. The radiation and the cold were bad, but it was the lack of oxygen that killed everyone.

Tens of thousands of soldiers. Men and women. Good and evil. Hero and coward. Officer and soldier.

Dead. Killed by a single tap from a girl named Jean Turner.

As of the moment, the New Folsom Fleet was parked by an asteroid belt a distance away from Deadman's Port. It was safe from curious eyes.

The transport entered the largest battlecruiser, the Gorgon called the Valiant. It used to be Admiral Bradley's flagship. Now it belonged to Jean.

The life support system was back online. Oxygen was restored. The temperature was restored. Automated droids started cleansing the radiation.

The first thing Jean and Viper saw when they entered the hanger was a field of bodies. Dozens of dead marines were scattered around the large platform. There wasn't any bug around and the bodies haven't started to stink yet, but only maniacs could talk in front of a crowd of dead when there was an alternate choice.

Jean didn't care, but Viper might.

The girl frowned and tapped something on her personal computer, and all across the fleet automated droids that survived the lack of oxygen and the cold started carrying the bodies away. They would be tossed into the vacuum of space, never to be seen again.

It wasn't exactly a proper burial for the dead, but neither Jean nor Viper cared about that.

"Wow." Viper glanced around in awe as the two walked toward the bridge. She has carried out several missions on battlecruisers before, but neither the Confederacy nor Orlan had anything as large as the Gorgon class battlecruisers.

"Might I introduce to you the Valiant. It's my ship now." Jean said sweetly as if she just received a brand new ring. The only thing was this ring was stained with the blood of people enough to fill dozens of football fields.

"Do you need me to lend you some crew members?" Viper smiled as well. She only felt happy for her girlfriend, but she did realize Jean couldn't fly an entire fleet just by herself.

"No thanks. I have something in store, you know, in case something like this happens."

The two entered the bridge. The sealed door was opened, and the bodies were already gone. Jean sat down in the seat Admiral Bradley was in. Viper wrapped her suit covered arm around Jean's neck.

Jean took out a hard drive from her pocket and stuck it into the computer of the ship.

The computer screen immediately started blinking. Both girls waited patiently. The blinking continued for a few minutes before suddenly dying down. A large "W" showed up.

 _"Warden Command Unit C012 online. Accessing ship data now. Data accessed."_

 _"Welcome, Creator. What is your command."_

"Access Warden battlecruiser AI template. Copy the template fourteen times and install them into the other battlecruisers of the fleet."

 _"Affirmative. Operating now."_

"As you are working, report on current status. Can this fleet participate in a battle?"

 _"The fleet requires additional modifications to possess battle capabilities. All weapon systems need to be switched from manual to automated. All ground forces within the ship are disabled and need to be modified for Warden use. Warden AI templates need to be copied in great numbers."_

"How long will it take?"

 _"Identify worker count."_

"50." 50 Warden SCVs. Warden SCVs were equipped to change other pieces of terran mech into Warden versions. Jean spent a lot of time to make that happen.

 _"Approximation: 14 days."_

"Fine. Do it now." Jean turned back to Viper, whose mouth was wide open. "C012, this is Viper. She is my most trusted friend. Viper, this is Warden Command Unit C012. It is the captain of this entire fleet."

"This...this is an AI." Viper noticed, a bit late. "You build an AI powerful enough to control an entire ship? Even the smartest of the Dominion can't do that." It was true. The most advanced AI in the Dominion were the adjutants, and they weren't fit to command entire fleets. What Jean had, an AI that controlled all aspects of a several km long vessel, was almost impossible.

Jean nodded. She could almost see stars coming out of the ghost's eyes. The ghost got closer, and Jean smiled and turned to C012.

"Leave only minimum surveillance in this room." She didn't like being watched.

 _"Affirmative."_

C012 answered, but neither Jean nor Viper were listening.

* * *

Across the sector, as Jean was enjoying a rather sexual exchange with a sister in arms, Six Ascendant Nyon was fighting for his power and his survival.

"Six Ascendant Nyon! I challenge you in the name of Amon. Only the strongest can do the god's bidding, and you, Nyon, are weak!"

Nyon growled as Seventh Ascendant Shalek dropped these words to his face.

Rak'Shir. The sacred duel in which low level Tal'darim warriors could rise in the Chain of Ascension. As the Sixth Ascendant, he was above Shalek, but if he was unfortunate enough it would change very soon.

The other Tal'darim looked at Nyon mockingly. As someone who lost two pieces of artifact fragments, Nyon wasn't the most welcomed Tal'darim on Slayn. The common foot soldiers had to hide their smirks, but ascendants like Nuroka and Alarak didn't share the same struggle.

Nyon ignored the others and calculated the power of the two sides.

Nyon had twice the ships Shalek did, but Rak'Shir wasn't a duel in which both sides could pile on all the forces under their command. Otherwise a single, low level duel could lead to the death of tens of thousands of Tal'darim and the destruction of dozens of ships. Tal'darim didn't have the training blades the Daelaam did, and when they fight, even if they were in a duel, in would be a fight to the death.

Even the most zealous Tal'darim ascendant couldn't afford that.

In a Rak'Shir, the two ascendants could only gain support from their supplicant forces. It was reasonable, as supplicant forces were entirely loyal to the ascendants they belonged to. They were technically property of the ascendants and therefore a sign of their power.

During the battle of Bel'Shir, Nyon lost hundreds of supplicants, but he had more resources than Shalek. As of the moment, he holds a supplicant army of a thousand strong, including zealots, slayers, havocs, supplicants, blood hunters, and a couple vanguards.

Nyon didn't know how much Shalek had, but he didn't show any sign of being worried.

"You will regret this." He turned around and left.

As the Sixth Ascendant left, his competitor turned to First Ascendant Nuroka and smiled. The First Ascendant frowned, but before he could say anything, Shalek left as well.

The Seventh Ascendant returned to his fortress. An army of seven hundred supplicants stood guarded around the building.

If ascendants like Alarak could see Shalek's supplicant army, they would think the ascendant has gone mad. His warriors were in fewer numbers and were weaker than that of Nyon. He was weaker than Nyon in term of personal power as well. If he fought, he would certainly lose.

Then why did he challenge Nyon?

Shalek walked by another hallway and finally entered his chamber, but he wasn't alone.

A blood hunter lurked in the shadows.

"I have heard of what you did." The covert warrior said in a deep dark voice.

"Indeed. I will be engaging Nyon in Rak'Shir in a few days." The Seventh Ascendant replied. "Now, give me what you promised."

The blood hunter smirked and took out a can of purple gas. Void energy flowed through the container.

"Ahhh." Shalek took it over and was satisfied as he felt the dark power flowing through his body. A normal can of terrazine couldn't do anything, but this wasn't a normal can.

It was a highly concentrated can of terrazine.

"Tell the First Ascendant I will do my part. With the power from this terrazine, I will be victorious. The day of the Rak'Shir is the day Nyon dies."

The blood hunter wasn't as optimistic. "Nyon's supplicants outnumber yours. He himself is a master of the blades."

Shalek frowned. "You doubt my strength?"

"Yes, and not just me. Remember, I am here under the order of Nuroka."

Shalek groaned, but he had no choice but to comply. "What do you suggest?"

The blood hunter turned to the side, and from the shadows over thirty blood hunters emerged.

"You…" Shalek wanted to draw his blade. It was not just disrespectful. It was an insult. Thirty blood hunters just entered his private chamber without him even knowing it. But the ascendant hid his anger. He knew he was just a tool to Nuroka. He didn't have the right to be angry.

"These warriors will pose as your warriors and pledge to fight for you in the duel. They are the best, even among Nuroka's warriors. They can easily help you terminate Nyon."

"Fine." Shalek finally nodded. As much as he despised Nuroka underestimating him, he would never say no to a greater chance of victory.

The blood hunter nodded. "I will report back to Nuroka. Good luck on the Rak'Shir. It will be a pity to go through all the trouble and waste all these resources just so you can be cut to pieces."

Shalek didn't say anything at first. Only when the blood hunters were gone did he lash down on his seat. He wasn't among the top ascendants, but at least he was the eighth most powerful figure in the Tal'darim. He has killed thousands. He wasn't used to being insulted.

The entire time Shalek didn't doubt the blood hunter's identity. The highly concentrated terrazine they brought was something only Nuroka had. He has never sold it before, and even if someone got a hand on it they wouldn't spend it on bribing some ascendant.

Nuroka had the incentive to want Nyon dead as well. Shalek had intel that Nyon traded his planet for two fleets, and the planet was invaded and sacked by terran thieves just moments later. No one suspected a connection between Nyon and the terran, and everyone just thought it was pure luck.

Still, Nuroka needed someone to blame. The ascendant in command of the planet's defenses was killed, along with every single Tal'darim warrior. Nuroka didn't even have someone to punish.

It was reasonable to suggest he turned to blame Nyon for his shame and losses.

Meanwhile, a few minutes later, the blood hunter, the one that Shalek thought belonged to Nuroka, appeared in front of Nyon.

"My master, Shalek has fallen into the trap. He doesn't suspect a thing."

On his throne, Nyon smirked.

Yes. The entire time, it was Nyon that sent Shalek against himself.

Nyon needed a crushing victory, but attacking other factions was either risky or insufficient. Thus, he turned to a better choice.

A few days later, Seventh Ascendant Shalek would challenge him in Rak'Shir. All the Tal'darim on Slayn would gather around and watch the duel.

Under the eyes of millions, Nyon would defeat Shalek in a crushing victory and slay him as slowly and painfully as possible. He would rebuild his authority on the blood of the Seventh Ascendant.

More importantly, it would seem like an even fight. Nyon had more supplicants but less blood hunters. Shalek, after using the concentrated terrazine, would seem as powerful as, or even more powerful, than Nyon.

But when the thirty blood hunters pledge their allegiance for Nyon and start plowing through the unsuspecting Shalek supplicants, the tide would change. As for Shalek himself, did he really think the terrazine Nyon gave him was the exact same thing as the one he received from Nuroka?

Not a chance.

That was Jean's plan all along. The trade with Nuroka was, on one hand, a way to get rid of Bel'Shir and get Nyon two more fleets. But more importantly, it was a mean for Nyon to get a can of concentrated terrazine.

At the end of the day, Nyon would stand victorious. His authority would be rebuilt. His warriors would once more follow him to death. He could once again be a powerful ally of Jean.

Perhaps the only loser would be Shalek, but no one cared about him.


	59. Chapter 59

When the time came, tens of thousands of Tal'darim gathered around the Pits of Ascension. A duel between the top ascendants was rare, and everyone was eager to see a battle which would end one of them. To the Tal'darim mass who would likely never reach the place of a top ascendant, there was something about seeing a powerful figure way above them scream and perish that was just so satisfying.

The ascendants were especially so. The idea of rising a step in the chain of ascension simply by sitting around was more than appealing.

Surrounded by his army of supplicants, Shalek floated into his position. His cloak dragged behind him, radiating void energy. His entire body shined with confidence and power. A few ascendants slightly below his level frowned. Someone as powerful as him might be an obstacle to their ascension. Even the top ascendants were slightly confused. They weren't allowed to eliminate ascendants that might be a threat before they could rise to power, but only fools would simply ignore potential threats. Even the Highlord had eyes and ears around Shalek.

All of them were surprised when they realized Shalek was stronger than they thought. The Seventh Ascendant was almost 20% stronger than he used to be.

As he entered his position, Shalek threw another meaningful glance at Nuroka, who looked back at him in full confusion.

Shalek turned back, impressed. No wonder Nuroka was the First Ascendant and he was the Seventh. The warrior's ability in pretense was impressive. Now that he thought about it, if Nuroka responded with a nod or something, it would tell the other ascendants Shalek and Nuroka were in an alliance. This might be seen as a threat and attract unwanted hostiles.

Shalek sat down. Nyon wasn't here yet, and he closed his eyes and started meditating. His newly gained power was slightly tougher to control than his original ones, and he needed all the time he could to get used to it.

Minutes passed, and the audience was getting more and more restless. They were here for blood and death. Patience wasn't exactly something that they have. Thankfully, someone was more worried than they were.

"Does Nyon fear me so much that he doesn't even dare to face in combat?"

Shalek stood back up. His eyes burned red. He didn't know why Nyon still wasn't here, but that didn't stop him from using it.

"It is evident that Nyon doesn't have what it takes to do Amon's biddings! He doesn't even deserve to be a Tal'darim! I suggest we strip away his fleet and send blood hunters after him. Cowards don't deserve to live."

"Highlord?" Alarak looked at Ma'lash, waiting for him to make a call.

"Cowards certainly don't deserve to live, but I'm not the coward here."

A voice came from behind the Tal'darim audience, and everyone turned to find Nyon walking toward the Pit of Ascension. A thousand supplicant warriors, in bright crimson armor and shining with powerful red void energy, followed him in four straight lines.

At the first look, it was apparent Nyon's forces were stronger than Shalek. The common Tal'darim immediately thought twice about disrespecting Nyon. He might be defeated by the terran, but he was still stronger than 99.99% of the population of Slayn.

The Seventh Ascendant groaned in annoyance and slight surprise, but it was too late to turn back now. Plus, supplicants couldn't directly intervene in the duel. The most they could do was slaughter his supplicant forces and provide their psionic power to Nyon. As long as he could take Nyon out before that, he could still reach victory.

"You came. I take back my words. You are not a coward." Shalek continued to provoke. "You are a fool. A fool who doesn't know his place."

Nyon smirked. He wasn't a low level zealot. The Seventh Ascendant's words don't piss him off. Someone with any intelligence could see that Shalek was trying to annoy him and make him make wrong decisions during the duel. He was beyond the point of falling for that.

"You wield your voice like a weapon, Shalek, but true Tal'darim use something else. We use the art of blades. Only terran and Daelaam weaklings bother with words, and you, Seventh Ascendant Shalek, are a weakling."

Shalek's face turned red, and Nyon smiled inside. The whole point of this duel was to reestablish his image. Every step he took was for that purpose. He arrived at the last minute on purpose because it could draw the most attention. At first everyone thought he was not coming, and then he popped up with an entire army of supplicant elites. Now he was making Shalek look bad with words and therefore make him look good.

"That's enough. The Rak'Shir shall begin at once." On his throne, Ma'lash waved his armed hand. He didn't know what the two were saying, and he didn't want to know. Whoever the winner was, he couldn't threaten him. According to traditions, only the First Ascendant could challenge the High Lord. Ma'lash eyed Nuroka. This duel didn't really concern him. The winner needed to follow his command anyways. He was only here because he wanted to see someone scream.

Now that the words were exchanged, the two ascendants walked to two opposite directions of the pits right in front of two giant holes that connected to the planet's core. Their own private armies formed up behind them. Their objective was to push their opponent into the hole behind them. The defeated would be melted and the victor would inherit everything the defeated once owned, including his ships and his armies.

Without another word, the two drew their blades and charged at each other. Their supplicant armies followed, and under the thrilled eyes of all the thousands of thousands of Tal'darim audience, the two sides clashed.

Nyon's double bane blades made contact with Shalek's weapon, drawing a cloud of red sparks in the air, but Shalek was already on the next step. He pushed Nyon's blades aside with his own and a string of crimson lightning came out of the lower ascendant's fingers and hit Nyon.

"Ehhh." Nyon backed off as he quickly formed a plasma shield in front of himself. The lightning disappeared, but the plasma shield was shattered as well. The next second Shalek launched himself forward. His void energy formed a fist and punched into Nyon's chest.

The Sixth Ascendant fell back, struggling to defend himself.

"I can promise you one thing. This will take a long time to end." Watching Nyon collapse, Shalek smiled. The only sense of doubt disappeared, leaving just confidence and arrogance. There was no way Nyon could defeat him. At this point his only concern was to end this before all of his supplicants die.

All around Shalek's supplicants were giving their lives to buy Shalek more time. They were dying in droves, but they ignored the losses and held their ground. Nyon's forces were pushing through, but they needed time.

It appeared like Nyon didn't have the time.

In a wave of cheers from the Tal'darim bystanders, Shalek slammed Nyon onto the scorching ground of the planet once again.

Ma'lash turned away in boredom. "Pity. I thought I could've seen a fair battle. If I wanted to see a slaughter I would've done it myself." Thinking the fight was already over, he stood up and was about to leave when he suddenly paused.

Inside the pits, Nyon stood back up once again. Shalek smirked and pushed his arms forward, channeling the power within him, but the once overwhelming strength seemed...off.

"What's wrong. Can't feel your void energy?" The Sixth Ascendant ignited his blade once more as Shalek's expression changed drastically. "Maybe it's something you took. Maybe... maybe...just maybe...the highly concentrated terrazine that blood hunter gave you had something in it? Something that doesn't qutie agree with you?"

"What...how did you…" Shalek backed off in slight fear. He tried to contact his power even harder, but the more he tried the less control he had. It was as if what was in the terrazine was just getting started.

"Simple. I know it because I gave it to you."

That was when Shalek realized why he could beat down Nyon so easily. The drug in the terrazine could only function when being activated, and Nyon must've activated it somehow when he first clashed with him. He needed time for the drug to work, so he pretended like he was losing. As beaten as he seemed, Nyon wasn't really wounded.

And now that the tide was turned, Nyon could easily crush him. Shalek had no way of proving to the audience something was wrong because he would be dead at the end of the duel. Every Tal'darim outside the field would think Nyon was just toying with Shalek. Make him feel like he could win and then suddenly crush him with overwhelming power. They would only admire his strength and cruelty.

But if the terrazine came from Nyon, then the blood hunter was from him as well. Shalek thought back to the few times he looked at Nuroka and realized the First Ascendant didn't have a poker face on because he was good at keeping secrets. He did so because he had absolutely no idea what was going on.

But if that was the case and the blood hunter came from Nyon, then the thirty blood hunters he added into his supplicants were from Nyon as well…

Nyon smirked and gave out a psionic order, and the next second thirty zealots collapsed with their bodies severed. Invisible scythes came out of nowhere and cut the defenseless warriors into pieces.

The survivors were caught by surprise. They were already losing, and now the blood hunters were the final straw. Their numbers decreased exponentially. The supplicants fought bravely, but they could no longer able to even delay the inevitable.

Screams and cries cover the field as hundreds of elite Tal'darim warriors collapsed and perished in the wrath of their own brothers and sisters.

"This is unfair! Rak'Shir is a battle to determine who's the strongest! You used tricks!"

"Intelligence is a part of strength, Seventh Ascendant. It's not my fault that you are a fool. Let this be a lesson. Next time, don't believe in everything you are told. Oh." Nyon pretended like he just realized something. "Wait, you don't have a next time."

"You...die!" The practically maimed ascendant suddenly charged forward. His void energy was crippled, and he couldn't even afford to maintain a plasma shield. It took all he had to keep his blade lit. He charged toward Nyon with his bare legs. Floating in the air or even turning his body into energy and charging then was a luxury he couldn't afford.

Nyon waited until the last moment to draw his blades…

Two minutes after the severed body of Shalek first hit the ground, the last of the Seventh Ascendant's supplicants perished with a particle disruptor round through the chest.

"Get rid of this filth." Nyon waved before leaving the pits. Behind him, two supplicant zealots tossed the armor that once belonged to Shalek into the core of the planet. His body was gone shortly after his life ended, and the armor represented his defeat in Rak'Shir.

As he walked, Nyon noticed all the Tal'darim warriors lowering their heads in obedience. As far as they could see, Nyon had the upper hand the entire time. He only allowed Shalek to appear victorious because a crushing defeat at the very beginning was boring. When Shalek thought he was about to win, Nyon stepped in and demolished him, brutally demolishing his spirit. They were slightly confused as of why Shalek didn't turn on his shield during the final charge, but they quickly decided it didn't matter.

What really mattered was the fact that Shalek was dead and Nyon was alive. That was it.

The conversation between Nyon and Shalek was done psionically. Both projected their voice directly to each other. None of the other Tal'darim knew what truly happened.

As the Sixth Ascendant left, his mind was filled with one thought.

The twenty blood hunters he gave Jean might be the most cost effective blood hunters in the history of the Tal'darim.


	60. Chapter 60

Inside a ship at a staging area in orbit of Korhal, Nova checked her weapon again as she talked toward two separate computer screens.

"Admiral Princeton. Admiral Bane. You two command two of the top fleets in the Dominion, and today we are going to put them to a good use."

On the other side of the computer screens were two men in captain's uniform.

"Indeed. Alpha Squadron will follow your command, lieutenant. The rebels got away back in New Folsom. This will not happen again. This time, we will be the ones attacking."

Admiral Princeton was the commander of Alpha Squadron. The fleet of seventeen battlecruisers fought well against Tosh and Jean's combined forces, but last time they warped away before the Dominion could do real damage. This left a bad taste in the admiral's mouth, but if everything went correctly, this bad taste would be cleansed by the blood of the rebels.

"Omega Squadron is the best of the Dominion. Unlike some people, we accomplish the missions we are given." Commander of the Omega Squadron, Admiral Bane, smirked proudly. He was obviously referring to Princeton.

The top Dominion fleets were in intense competition for resources and manpower. Mengsk wanted that. The more dissent there were among the ranks, the less likely they would come together against him.

Princeton remained quiet.

"Now, what is this mission that requires two entire fleets, the best ghost in the Dominion, and an entire squadron of Special Forces to carry out?" Seeing no answer from his rival, Bane rose his eyebrows, disappointed, and demanded at Nova. Dominion command structure operated on a need to know basis, but as an admiral, Bane had to know what the mission was about.

Nova nodded and tapped a few keys on the computer. An image of Jean appeared.

"This woman has infiltrated the New Folsom Defensive Fleet and somehow made it disappear. Our spies inside Raynor's Raiders and Deadman's Port place her identity as Jean Turner, a former lieutenant of Raynor's Raiders. She recently broke away from the Raiders and joined forces with a rogue spectre by the name of Gabriel Tosh. The two worked together and seized the New Folsom Prison."

"One of our spies located her at a space platform of Deadman's Port. Our mission is to take her alive. Terminate anyone that poses a threat to this objective. Is that clear?"

"Affirmative, but what are the exact plans?"

"We will exit warp space in close proximity to the platform. The local mercenaries shouldn't put up much of a fight, not against two fleets, but if you encounter any resistance, destroy them. When the skies are cleared, all the ships will surround and blockade the platform. No one gets in or out. This will trap our target on the platform, and I will personally lead the Special Forces into the field and capture her."

"Clear? We should move ASAP. Remember Jean still possesses the entire New Folsom Defensive Fleet. The longer we wait, the more likely she can turn these ships into her own. We need to act now."

The two admirals nodded.

Minutes later, the combination of the two fleets, thirty Minotaurs and four Gorgons in total, along with a modified Special Forces battlecruisers, disappeared.

* * *

A random mercenary battlecruiser was the first to discover the Dominion fleets.

"What the...why is the Dominion here?" The captain's eyes widened.

All the ships in the Dominion combined could obliterate every mercenary ship in Deadman's Port in one round of bombardment, but there was a reason Deadman's Port was still standing till this day.

The Dominion Fleet had over twelve hundred battlecruisers in total, but they were spread across the countless planets the Dominion held. Research stations. Core world planets. Manufacturing planets. All of these positions required at least a dozen ships to secure.

After being spread across all the positions, the mighty Dominion Fleet was down to a couple hundred battlecruisers. Among them, a large number was devoted to the defenses against the zerg, the protoss, and other terran factions like the Umojans and the Kel-Morians.

The number of ships the Dominion could spare was less than ten percent of the overall fleet.

Although even those ships were enough to wipe out Deadman's Port, there was simply no point to do that. There was always going to be criminals and guns for hire in the sector, and the Dominion saw no point of losing ships for nothing.

But things have changed. Now the Dominion has a reason to strike.

The captain could never get the answer to his question. One of the Dominion battlecruiser's Yamato cannons charged up. The captain tried to jump the ship away, but it was too late.

The ship was immediately engulfed in flames. All the crew members were dead in an instant.

The ship was simply unlucky enough to be in the Dominion Fleet's way, and the Dominion needed to send a message to the other mercenaries. They weren't fooling around, and if the mercenaries wanted to live, they should leave this place ASAP.

There were still a couple hundred mercenary battlecruisers in the port. If the Dominion wanted to take the port by force, they would need much more ships and much more time. The Dominion couldn't afford to waste time on a few thugs and crooks when there was a larger fish to fry.

The news of Dominion arrival was immediately spread across the entire Deadman's Port. Among the first ones to hear was Mira Han.

The one-eyed mercenary had scouts all over the port.

"The Dominion? What do they want with us?" Mira frowned.

Her lieutenants looked at each other, speechless. Mira groaned. "If Matthew is here he'd know what to do." She scanned her men again, frustrated. "We can fight the Dominion, but we don't need to. Pack up. We're getting out of here."

The men nodded. To them, Deadman's Port was just a platform. As long as they had their ships in their grasp, they could rebuild the port with ease.

Almost all of the mercenaries made a similar thought. Battlecruiser after battlecruiser jumped away. Those who couldn't afford a battlecruiser paid a large sum of money to buy themselves a ticket to safety.

Before long, most of Deadman's Port was vacant.

Jean and Viper heard about this report as well, but they were too late.

After another short distanced jump, the two fleets appeared right next to Isaac's platform. A squad of vikings was patrolling the area, and they were immediately blasted out of the air.

"We need to move now!" Viper barged into the command center of the platform with her sniper rifle in her hand.

"Too late." Jean noted and pointed outside the window. There, the dozens of Dominion battlecruisers have spread out and surrounded the port from all directions. Wraiths were deployed to make sure dropships couldn't escape through the empty space between the capital ships.

The platform's orbital defenses retaliated, but the Dominion fleet had overwhelming firepower. The few Drakken orbital cannons were destroyed before they could fire a single shot. A couple railguns were obliterated at once. Missile turrets fired futilely into the air, hoping to get a miracle done.

The fleet went into action, but they were completely outnumbered and outgunned by the Dominion ships. Three Behemoth were blasted apart before they could even lift off into the air. A few Minotaurs temporarily survived the hail of laser batteries, but this only delayed the inevitable as hundreds of vikings, wraiths, and tac fighters swarmed over the lonely cruisers. Hundreds of missiles and torpedoes tore open ship platings and sent ship after ship to their demise. The laser batteries tried to fight back, but they were dissected one by one.

Everything happened so fast. Thanks to some inside source, the Dominion Fleet had the exact coordinates of Viper's platform, which allowed them to make a jump on the mercenaries without giving any time for them to prepare. Mercenaries weren't the most disciplined men, and most of them were either drunk or partying somewhere else. Only a few ships were manned, and they only lasted a few minutes up there. Just the amount of time needed to get all the crew members in battle position was a problem.

"Damn it!" Viper swore. She gripped to her rifle tightly, but she knew there was nothing she could do against an entire fleet. Even Kerrigan would think twice about taking on dozens of battlecruisers just by herself. There was no way she could fight her way out of the Dominion fleet.

"Calm down my love." Jean said smoothly, and her calmness brought some confidence into the officers inside the command center. "Isaac, what's the status?"

Even under a situation as dire as this one, Isaac was still as calm as ever. He was completely blinded by the idea of serving and protecting Viper, even if it meant death. Faced with Jean's question, the man glanced at Viper, saw that she nodded, and turned back with an answer.

"Scanners indicate thirty five battlecruisers in the perimeter. They have completely surrounded us. If we focus our ships at one position we can break through, but all the Dominion battlecruisers at that location have to do is delay us for a few minutes, and the entire fleet will jump into our flanks. I'm not sure if we can jump away in time."

Jean nodded. "Gather the ships we have left."

"But…"

"Do it." Viper demanded.

"Yes sir." Isaac backed off and started giving orders. He was technically still the leader of the mercenaries.

Behind Jean, the reaper captain quietly walked out of the bridge.

* * *

In orbit, Nova saw a communication channel blinking in her visor. She tapped it open.

It was a message. Nova smirked as she read it.

"The mercenaries are planning a counterattack. They have assembled their fleet." She turned to the two admirals. "All ships assemble at these coordinates. That's where the mercenary ships will enter the battlefield, and that's where we will destroy them."

Bane nodded. He was eager to end this fight. Gunning down mercenary ships out of the sky and burning down turrets was fun, but he has seen enough destruction in his early days. At this point only victories could impress him. "Fine, but where did you get this information? Is it reliable?"

He didn't want the entire fleet to be dragged away by a false information. It would open up a hole in the defenses and buy enough time for their foe to flee.

"Trust me." Nova replied and turned to a crew member. "Prepare for jump."

"Where are you going?" Bane keenly realized Nova's ship wasn't targeted to jump to the coordinates they were going to. When entire fleets jump, their destinations would be marked out and shared to every ship in the fleet so they wouldn't come out of warp space crashing into each other.

Nova shook her head. Her blonde ponytail waved behind her. "Just do your job, Admiral."

Bane nodded.

When twenty mercenary battlecruisers that belonged to Isaac's mercenaries lifted off into the air and planned on running by the lone Dominion battlecruiser and jump away to safety, they were met with Dominion ships almost twice their numbers.

"Forward! This is our only chance! Fight, and we might live! If we falter, the Dominion will kill us all!"

A captain screamed on the radio. The mercenary fleet immediately pushed forward. All twenty ships were packed with mercenaries, and every single one of them knew the only way they could live was by fighting. The debris of dozens of mercenary vessels told them the Dominion would show no mercy.

Fighters were thrown out like they were on sale. Pilots screamed and rammed their ships into enemy vessels. Their minds were filled with anger and hatred. If they had to die, then they would bring their enemies down with them.

"Hold your ground!" The two Dominion fleets were caught by surprise, but they immediately retaliated. Trained and experienced officers passed down commands. Elite crew members operated like they were in a training exercise rather than a heated battlefield. Vikings, wraiths, and tac fighters were flung out of the capital ships. With superior hardware and software, they picked off the mercenary fighters one by one.

The mercenary fleets charged up their Yamato Cannons, but just as the energy signatures were at the maximum point and just before the plasma bolts could be sent out, the Dominion vessels the Yamato Cannons were locked onto suddenly jumped away. Shells capable of destroying entire ships were shot out, only to reach nothing and continue to fly into the endless space.

Normally this wasn't possible, but a couple ravens were among the two fleets. Armed with the top technology of the Dominion, they scanned the mercenary ships from top to bottom, found out which targets they were going to fire upon, and made countermeasures. An entire volley of Yamato Cannons was useless.

"These mercenary scum. Let's return the favor."

Admiral Princeton groaned and ordered. Although not a single battlecruiser was lost, he had to admit he was frightened for a second. He thought the mercenary resistance would be scattered and ineffective, but he underestimated the power of men and women who spent most of their lives fighting. When fighting was the only way, they demonstrated excellent skills.

But war wasn't only about skills.

The Dominions retaliated. For a moment most of the battlefield went silent as the laser batteries quieted down, but it was the peace before the storm.

All thirty four battlecruisers charged up their main cannon, and not long after thirty four bolts of orange energy smashed into the mercenary fleet.

It was a disaster. Battlecruisers were ripped to pieces. A single cannon could maim a battlecruiser. Two could destroy it. Three...you're lucky if you can find some pieces of remains.

Seven battlecruisers were killed in action. The rest were wounded more or less, but that was just the first round.

Hundreds of Dominion fighters struck. Their mercenary counterparts have been slaughtered to the last, and now the battered mercenary ships were defenseless.

But instead of destroying the battlecruisers, the fighters merely took out their batteries, missile turrets, and other weapons.

The mercenaries inside the vessels got to live for now, but they weren't relieved.

Ten Dominion battlecruisers jumped to beside the mercenary cruisers, and hundreds of drop pods were launched out.

Boarding parties.

The Dominion wanted to take Jean alive. The two admirals ordered the round of Yamato Cannons out of the anger of almost losing their fleets to a group of puny mercenaries, but now that victory was within their grasp, they no longer needed to use deadly force.

The mercenaries fought back and gunshots ran through all the mercenary ships that survived, but it was a futile effort. Dominion reinforcements came in waves of dropships and drop pods, and the mercenaries were counting their bullets.

But as the last battlecruiser fell, there was still no sight of Jean.


	61. Chapter 61

On the opposite direction of the slaughterhouse, a lone mercenary battlecruiser quietly lifted off into the air.

"Captain Barnes? What's the situation?" Jean turned to the captain of this ship.

As for the moment Jean, Viper, Isaac, and a large group of mercenary forces were within the best battlecruiser in the mercenary fleet. A man named Barnes was the ship's captain. Dozens of security forces marines were scattered around the bridge. Jean's reaper guards stood beside her. The reaper captain looked around, slightly glad he was with Jean.

"All clear. I don't see a signal Dominion vessel in sight. We are free to jump."

Jean did a simple but effective trick. The main forces of the mercenary fleet were sent on a suicide mission toward one side of the port. They would no doubt be obliterated, but they could draw most of the Dominion ships away and open up holes in the defenses. Everything went according to the plan. Frankly speaking Jean couldn't believe how successful it was. The Dominion didn't leave a single battlecruiser at this side.

It was almost too good to be true.

"Prepare for jump." The coordinates were already typed into the ship's computer to minimize the time.

Barnes nodded. "All crew members, jump in 3, 2..."

All of a sudden, a one kilometer long battlecruiser appeared right next to the mercenary vessel. It was so close that the two ships were almost touching each other.

The warp drive was just brought online, but that was the furthest it got. Four EMP missiles came out of the battlecruiser, hit the part of the ship that contained the warp drive, and exploded.

Along with a storm of exploding circuits, the warp drive was forcibly brought offline.

"How did they know where our coordinates?" Viper demanded as she caught herself from falling. The EMPs knocked the battlecruiser off its feet and most of the crew members were on the ground.

"Soldier, report!" Captain Barnes didn't have time to answer the ghost's questions. He snatched a radio and linked into the security forces communication channel.

"The Dominions are boarding our ship. Shit!" The security forces captain on the other side cursed. Barnes could hear intense gunshots, along with the sounds of bodies hitting the ground and man groaning in pain. "They're breaking through. There is no way we can hold them off! We need he...Eh!"

The radio has gone quiet. All the gunshots and screaming have stopped. The only sound left was that of boots hitting the metal floor, and those boots didn't belong to mercenaries.

Jean turned to Viper.

"There's probably a mole among the crew members, but we don't have time for a mole hunt. We can't hold this ship."

Viper loaded her rifle. "Beg to differ. That's only a single Dominion ship. If we can hold them off until we can repair our warp drives…"

"We don't have the time. Dominion reinforcements can arrive at any moment. If they have a mole among us then they know our plan and must've developed a way to keep us here."

"Then we will abandon ship. Get in a dropship and warp out."

Jean pointed at the Dominion fighters. These agile vessels, while the two capital ships were fighting, have spread out across the mercenary battlecruiser. They weren't attacking, but there was no doubt they could keep any transport from escaping.

"We can't. Even if we can get to the hangar we can't get past the Dominion fighters."

"Then what do we do? Sit back and wait to be killed?"

Jean shook her head. "We are sitting duck already, but the Dominion have chosen to board this ship instead of blast it out of the sky." She looked at Viper. "There's only one reason for this. They want me alive. They have no need for the rest of you, but don't worry, I have something planned for you..."

"But what about us? The Dominion have no need to take us prisoners. They'll kill us all." Captain Barnes couldn't help but interrupt. Maybe Jean had a way out for her girlfriend, but there was no way she could bring all the mercenaries to safety.

The scene went dead silent.

Jean eyed Viper.

Viper's hand, which was running across the surface of the sniper rifle, paused.

Barnes reached for his sidearm.

The security forces looked at each other. Their expressions unseen under the helmets.

Jean was the first to act. She waved her hand, and out of nowhere four grenades with their security clips gone were tossed into the middle of the crew members.

"Grenade!" The unsuspecting crew members screamed as they were ripped apart.

Viper raised her weapon and sniped four security forces marines in two seconds.

Barnes drew his weapon and pointed it at Jean, but he never had the chance to fire. Isaac pointed his pistol at the back of Barnes' head and pulled the trigger.

It was a massacre. Confused marines fought back, but they were slaughtered. All the crew members were gone in just minutes.

Suddenly, Jean felt a pistol put next to her head.

It belonged to the reaper captain.

"The Dominion will pay me big bucks for this."

Jean glanced at him. His helmet was off, and Jean could see a shade of blue in the bottom of him eyes. She glanced at Isaac, who just shot a deck officer in the chest, and saw the same blueness.

The captain was under mind control. He himself didn't know it, but normal guard captains don't just betray their commanders for a few bucks. Perhaps they might if their commander wanted them dead, but this betrayal was obviously pre-planned.

Jean immediately realized Nova came here really prepared. During the time between the battle of New Folsom and this assault, A Dominion ghost, maybe Nova, must've snuck into the port, got to the reaper captain, and influenced him. The captain was Jean's personal guard, but he was also a frequent guest of a bar in Deadman's Port, where he dumped all the credits Jean paid him. He wasn't that hard to get to. Now that Jean thought about it, she gave the captain a lot of break time, especially when she herself was with Viper.

No one saw it coming. Not even Jean. She realized the Dominion forces jumped in extremely close to her platform, but she just thought maybe the Dominion did some recon. She didn't expect a mole. She was emotionless, not omniscient.

The girl glanced at the rest of the reapers, and realized they were pointing their guns at her as well. Maybe they were controlled as well. Maybe they were bribed. It didn't matter.

Jean's mind turned, but before she could say or do anything, Viper looked at her and saw her being held at gunpoint. Immediately, a psionic wave washed over the entire bridge. Everyone, including Jean, dropped their weapon and clutched to their head in excruciating pain.

Well, almost everyone. A pissed off Viper turned her rifle and shot every single reaper guard in the head. As the last reaper fell, Viper knelt down beside Jean and helped her up. She bit her lips as she saw the pained expression on Jean's face. In the heat of the moment, the ghost temporarily lost control of her power, and it pained her to see Jean in so much pain.

Standing up, Jean turned around and put a bullet into Isaac's head.

There was a reason Jean decided to slaughter every single one in the bridge except herself and Viper, and she didn't do it because she wanted to kill someone. She couldn't allow anyone to live and potentially help the Dominion learn what she did and therefore identify her weakness. If the Dominion got someone to talk, they could learn much more than what Jean wanted to reveal.

As that was done, Jean turned to Viper. Even now, after Jean killed almost everyone, friend or not, the ghost didn't do anything to keep herself safe against Jean. If she simply took a step back she could buy herself a few more seconds to respond if Jean tried something unethical, but Viper didn't.

Uncharacteristically, Jean didn't disappoint Viper's trust.

"Remember the protoss that barged in when we were together? A few days ago?"

"The Tal'darim?" Viper suddenly remembered what happened back then. "The Tal'darim commander sent you a squad of assassins with cloaking capabilities! They must have a cloaked ship! We can get up there and escape." She suddenly paused, realizing something. "But you're not coming with me. Why?"

"The Dominion have set their eyes on me, and they will not rest until I am either dead or captured. Even if we can make it out of this, we can't run from the Dominion forever. They have the resources and the manpower to easily locate and overpower us. If we want to live through this, we need to make sure they change their mind."

The battle of New Folsom had its lasting effects. While Jean prospered, she was painted as a threat to Mengsk. The Dominion Fleet seemed weak and constantly on the defensive, but that was misleading. In reality, the Dominion was still ten times stronger than everything Jean could muster. The fall of Isaac's mercenaries in a couple hours told the same story.

But despite all this Jean didn't regret siding with Tosh. For one thing, regret couldn't change anything. Plus, she had no idea her identity would be leaked. She knew there was the risk, but she was willing to take the risk in exchange for the potential allegiance of Tosh's spectres and later an entire Dominion fleet.

"How?" Viper frowned. In her radio, she could hear the sound of weapons firing getting closer and closer. The Dominion strike team was the best of the best. Viper didn't know they belonged to Dominion Special Forces, but she did know the mercenaries didn't stand a chance. They needed to come to a decision quickly.

"They wouldn't want to hunt down a dead woman. If I can get captured and fake my death…"

"It's too risky. The Dominion aren't fools."

"But it is necessary. I can't build up my forces with the Dominion on my back. I need to make them think I'm dead. After I escape, I will go by a new identity and do my best to hide my skills with the computer so I don't drag as much attention. I will meet you as soon as I can."

"Then don't build up your forces."

Jean froze.

"We can go to somewhere remote. Somewhere out of the Dominion's reach. We can settle down, get married, and live out the rest of our lives in peace. We don't have to live like this."

Jean lowered her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Why not?" Viper asked, but the next second she felt someone hitting her in the back of the neck. She collapsed with a slight groan.

Jean looked at the figure behind the collapsed ghost. It was a blood hunter.

"If she is injured I will have your head." She threatened. Blood hunters weren't exactly the most experienced in terms of taking people alive, especially not terran.

The blood hunters smirked but didn't say anything.

"Carry her to your transport and get her out of here. Keep her safe or I will tell Nyon about your transgression." Jean was quite familiar with the culture of the Tal'darim. Kind words and trust weren't the most effective method. Only threats could keep them in line.

"I serve Nyon, not you." The Tal'darim retaliated.

"Serving me is serving Nyon."

The blood hunter finally nodded. She carried Viper in her arms and walked away. She was able to briefly cloak the fainted ghost with her void energy to keep her safe from the approaching Dominion forces.

Now that she was alone inside the bridge, Jean sat down in the captain's seat and quietly took out a pistol.

Just two minutes later, the blast door was blown open. A squad of Dominion soldiers charged in. A Spec Ops ghost was leading the assault.

"All clear. Target acquired. Seizing her immediately." The soldiers scanned the bridge and realized all the crew members except Jean were dead. As the elite marines and marauder commandos secured the area, the ghost walked up to Jean and, without a word, jammed a taser into her neck.

Jean was knocked out instantly. Military class tasers were much more effective than the one Jean used to take down Isaac.

Meanwhile, inside another part of the mercenary battlecruiser, Nova snapped the neck of the last mercenary officer. "Take her back to my ship. Keep her under maximum security."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Jean woke up with a sting in the back of her neck where she was hit. As soon as she could, she quietly looked around.

Jean was put in a maximum security room. Two Spec Ops ghost lurked in the shadows. Dozens of elite marines either stood guard or patrolled around. Detectors covered the entire battlecruiser so cloaked unit couldn't sneak in and snuck Jean out.

Of course, Jean could only see the marines, but the rest could be assumed.

Knowing Jean was awake, Nova walked into the cell. Her suit were still stained by the blood of the mercenaries she massacred.

"Where is Tosh?" She demanded straightforwardly.

She got Jean, but she still wanted to take Tosh, and Jean was the best link she had.

"I don't know." Jean replied. Her hands were tied behind her back in a pair of shackles capable of holding a zealot in place. An ordinary girl like her had no chance of breaking through. "We separated as soon as the battle of New Folsom ended."

Nova knelt down in front of Jean. "Maybe you're lying and maybe you're not, but I'm not taking any chances." She rested her hand on Jean's forehead. "This may cause some brain damage, especially if you are resisting, so I hope you can answer me the easy way."

Powerful ghosts were capable of reading the minds of these weaker than them. When Kerrigan, still a ghost, first met Raynor, she read his thoughts of sleeping with her. Nova was not as strong as Kerrigan, but she wasn't an average ghost agent either. With some effort she could get into the head of defenseless victims and read what they were thinking.

Of course, there was always a problem. Chances were the process might mess up the mind of the victims.

"You didn't shoot my ship out with a Yamato shell. Instead you put your expensive troops at risk," Jean glanced at the well equipped Special Forces soldiers. "to board my ship and send them against cheap mercenaries. You want to take me alive. I doubt you would risk doing anything that might compromise my value."

Nova growled and lowered her hand. "It doesn't matter. When we get back to Korhal, our scientists will insert an inhibitor chip in your brain. You will realize the foolishness of your ways and join us in the fight for humanity. You will become just like me, a loyal soldier of the Dominion."

Jean was unmoved.

Nova pushed further. She wanted to break Jean's spirit. She wasn't lying when she talked about the inhibitor chip, but inhibitor chips weren't invulnerable. Apart from the expensive cost, anyone with a strong will could resist the chip's effect. Ghosts like Kerrigan and Nova received their surgeries when they were kids practically incapable of thinking for themselves.

Nova didn't know much about Jean's willpower, but judging the fact that she killed all her crew members without hesitation to probably tie up loose ends and the calm look she now holds, even when captured, Nova doubted the inhibitor chip could have much effect. She needed to lower Jean's willpower as much as possible.

"You have ran out of your tricks. Tosh wouldn't risk attacking two Dominion fleets just for you. Even if he does he wouldn't be in time. Last I heard Raynor took some losses against Tosh. He's probably hiding on some distant planet and licking his wounds now. Your mercenaries are gone. I don't see the ghost you work with, but this place is a death trap. If she tries anything, she will be killed immediately. Your fate is sealed."

Jean still remained quiet, and Nova stood up and walked out of the cell. Two elite marines closed the door behind her.


	62. Chapter 62

Nova walked into the bridge of her ship, slightly frustrated.

The ghost knew she should be satisfied. It was a clean mission. The objective was captured. Dominion losses were acceptable. But for some reason she had a bad feeling about this. There was definitely something fishy.

But where could this bad feeling possibly originate from?

She was in warp space. Her elite battlecruiser was escorted by two entire Dominion fleets. She was heading for Korhal, the capital of the Terran Dominion and one of the most heavily defended planet across the sector. What could possibly go wrong?

If the threat didn't come from outside, it must be from within. Jean was secured. She was searched from top to bottom and everything on her was stripped off. She was unarmed and the only thing on her was a shirt. A single marine could overpower her. Nova knew she might be a threat if she could get her hands on a computer terminal, but could she? If the sentries let an armed noncombatant slit right away under their noses, they might as well commit suicide. Even the weakest Dominion recruit could accomplish that job, much less Dominion Special Forces.

"Double the patrols and do a full scan of the ship." She ordered, just in case. The officers, as confused as they were, complied.

Nova was good, but she made a mistake, and that was assuming Jean had nothing on her.

But then again blaming Nova for this would simply be unfair, After all, the object Jean had on her wasn't exactly from around here.

With the hands restrained behind her back, Jean ran her finger across the surface of her watch. After a few experiments, she realized she was the only one that could see or feel her watch. For whatever reason, the Supreme One used some sort of technology Jean couldn't understand to not only shield the watch from hostile eyes but also touches.

She tapped the watch gently, and inside her mind she immediately sensed what was inside.

One of the elite marines behind Jean saw the girl's movement, but she didn't realize anything. As far as she could see, Jean was just rubbing her fingers on her wrist.

The price of that misunderstanding was unbelievable.

One second Jean's hand was empty. The next second she was holding an EMP grenade. Its clip was pulled off in advanced. After some experiment, Jean knew time didn't really flow inside her watch. If she pulled the pin off a grenade and put it into her watch, it would be on the edge of exploding when it was taken out. This allowed Jean to take the Dominion soldiers completely by surprise.

Jean's hands were tied and she couldn't throw the grenade out, but she didn't need to.

The EMP grenade exploded in Jean's hands. The pulse didn't do anything to Jean, but it swept through the entire cell.

Elite marines and marauders groaned. Their modified armors were somewhat resistant to the EMP pulses, but terran technology simply wasn't enough to make the CMC armors completely immune. Even protoss couldn't say they were completely immune to EMPs.

Ghosts were forced out of cloak mode. These elite warriors clutched onto their heads and stumbled slightly. Their armors weren't as heavy as those of marines, but the EMP washed away their psionic energy, rendering them as weak as an ordinary human being. Usually they could see the EMP grenade before it exploded and dodge away from its range of effect, but inside this small cell...

"Sir, we need reinforcements now! The prisoner is doing something...damn it!" One of the guards screamed into the radio, but the comm simply hissed.

Realizing the guards weren't down immediately, Jean tapped her watch again, and another EMP grenade appeared.

After three more EMP pulses, all the guards finally collapsed. Their human bodies couldn't withstand the weight of the armors.

A plasma blade appeared in Jean's hand, and she immediately cut open the shackles. Its technology made sure the shackles fell like hot butter while her hands, just inches away, were untouched.

One of the Spec Ops ghost survived through the waves of EMP with astonishing willpower. With shaking arms, he raised his gauss rifle and took aim at Jean. He was ready to kill, but the next second a two man tall warbot appeared in front of him. He fired a single shot, and the sniper round capable of punching a hole through Jean's skull bounced off the warbot's armor. C-10 sniper rifles, especially when they were armed with normal bullets, were designed to take down personnel, not mech.

Ghosts could specialized shells, like EMP rounds, for a situation like this. If they needed to, they could also slice the warbots apart with their psi blades or simply crush them with their mind, but this ghost didn't have the chance to use any of those. He could only watch as the eradicator's cannon rip through his body.

All the guards in the cell were down, but Jean knew she didn't have even a second to waste. Dominion forces weren't stupid. There were multiple security cameras inside the ship. She fried them, not that it mattered. Plus, the fact that they lost contact with the guards was enough to send Dominion Special Forces troops charging here.

Jean took some time to shoot all the guards in the head, repeatedly. After she was done, she looked around the room to make sure all the cameras fell during the EMP rampage.

When Jean made that confirmation, she tapped on her watch once more, and a piece of CMC armor of a Dominion marine covered every inch of her skin. The watch allowed Jean to make the things she stored inside appear anywhere within a certain proximity. The area around Jean was within that proximity.

Alarms blared throughout the halls, and Jean opened the door of the cell and walked out.

Two elite marines were at the door. Their gauss rifles were trained at the door, ready to start blasting, but they didn't fire when they saw Jean. The girl's red armor fooled them. Jean's CMC armor was that of a normal marine and the sentries were Special Forces elite marines, but it wasn't exactly an easy difference to spot in a brief glance. As far as the marines knew, the prisoner was in a shirt. That was it. There was no way she could hide a CMC armor on her.

"What happened inside? Your comm is down." One of the elite marines asked. Despite knowing Jean was probably a friend, his weapons was still facing her.

Jean didn't answer. Instead, she collapsed on the ground and whispered something. The marine that asked the question frowned. Jean wasn't talking in the radio, and he couldn't hear what she said through the blaring alarm and the layer of armor. He knelt down beside Jean and opened his helmet.

"What did you say?"

Instead of words, the marine received a plasma blade to the chest.

Ghosts and zealots used psionic blades. These blades were the peak melee weapons, capable of cutting through practically anything. However, they needed psionic input from their users to work.

Jean didn't fulfill that requirement, so she went to the next best option. In order to allow non-psychic combatants to have a chance in melee, terran scientists created plasma blades. They could be activated with the press of a button. Although they were slightly less effective than psionic blades, they were perfect for people like Jean. They were relatively expensive and rare, and Jean managed to purchase one through the connections of Isaac's mercenaries.

The second guard was taken by surprise, but he acted quickly. Unfortunately, Jean was quicker. Almost as soon as the plasma blade went through the first marine's neck, Jean turned the blade, almost beheading the guard, and launched herself forward. A single gauss bullet grazed by her shoulder armor before she pushed the rifle up toward the ceiling with one arm and jammed the blade into the second marine's helmet with the other.

The headless marine collapsed. Most of his bullets hit the ceiling.

A few more marines came in from the other end of the hallway. With a blank face, Jean took out a shredder grenade and tossed it into the middle of the crowd of reinforcements. As the grenade hit the ground, Jean knelt down and hid herself behind a combat shield of one of the fallen elite marines.

An explosion was followed by the sound of shrapnel hitting the piece of metal.

Still with a blank face, Jean stood back up and took out her pistol. One hand holding onto the shield and the other holding the firearm, Jean walked forward.

Seven elite marines were charging down the halls when Jean suddenly dropped an instrument of death at their feet. Almost all of them were caught by surprise, and Jean viciously held the grenade there for a second before throwing it out so it could go off as soon as it landed at its destination. The marines had half a second to react, and that wasn't nearly enough.

Three men were killed instantly. A man lost a leg. The other lost an arm. The third's helmet was shattered. The fourth was knocked off his feet, but there was no obvious injury on him.

Not that it mattered as Jean put a bullet into each of their skulls.

Not wasting another second at the bodies on the floor, Jean ran deeper into the ship.

* * *

"Someone, report now! What is going on?" Nova demanded loudly.

All around her crew members were in a hurry. They were elite, but they were also human beings. They thought they were in a completely safe environment.

They were wrong, and it surprised them.

"Sir, we have lost contact with the prisoner cell. I can't reach the sentries outside the cell."

Nova wasted no time with swearing or pointing fingers. "Contact the closest patrol squad and order them to investigate. Sound the alarm."

"Yes sir."

Just seconds later, the sound of an explosion and a series of gunshots through the radio sent the entire bridge into a dead silence. As the shots died down, the fate of the seven men patrol squad was obvious.

Nova wasn't demoralized by the casualties.

"Order security forces to converge on the prison cell. Surround it but do not engage. Send out squads to lock down the entire ship! Whoever is behind this will not get what they came here for."

"Yes sir!"

"Check all the cameras. I want to know what is going on inside my ship!"

A crew member started typing.

"Sir, the cameras in the cell are down. I'm accessing the hallway cameras now."

One of the computer screens changed and projected twelve separate smaller screens. Each of them was playing the content of one of the cameras in the hallways near the prison cell. Nova suddenly frowned and pointed at one of the cameras.

The officer enhanced that window.

Inside the image, a marine slaughtered a patrol squad.

"Who is this?" Nova frowned. She couldn't see Jean's face through the girl's helmet.

"Don't know, but he came out of the cell. He's not one of us." The officer stated the obvious.

Nova growled in slight frustration and loaded her rifle. "Squad one, come with me." She walked out of the bridge. Two Spec Ops ghosts and twenty elite marines followed her.

* * *

The ghost reached the cell. A ring of Special Forces was around the door, but they didn't attack. That was about to change.

"Sir, security cameras can't find the rogue marine. He must've slipped past the cameras."

Nova tapped her earpiece as the reinforcements behind her joined their brothers in a defensive formation. "And the prisoner?"

"She has not been spotted. Maybe she's the one inside the marine armor?"

"Impossible. There's no way she can get a CMC armor. We searched her. She wasn't carrying any grenade either. There's a mole on this ship." Nova concluded. "If Jean didn't escape, she must be still inside the cell. I don't know why she's doing that, but I'll find out soon."

Nova turned to her men and made a signal, and two elite marines kicked open the door of the cell with their combat shields up. The men immediately charged inside, expecting heavy resistance and ready to kill.

They quickly realized the cell was empty.

"All clear." One of the marines said, putting his shield aside. His enhanced visor was armed with a scanner capable of detecting cloaked units. Not a single soul other than them was in the room.

Nova walked in as well, but just as she entered her psionic energy screamed a warning. Sweat came down from the ghost's back.

Without a second of hesitation, Nova turned around and jumped out of the room. A layer of psionic shield was formed between herself and the cell.

The next second an explosion tore the cell, along with the dozen elite marines inside, to pieces.

The two Spec Ops ghosts did a similar thing as they moved outside the cell ASAP. They were somewhat wounded by the blast, but they lived.

The rest of the strike team weren't so lucky. Enhanced armors were ripped open. Human bodies were evaporated. It was a bloodbath.

Nova groaned and pulled out a piece of shrapnel that got past her shield and smashed into her shoulder. She dropped the piece of metal, which hit the ground and made a loud sound, but Nova wasn't bothered by her wound. Instead, she merely tapped her earpiece once again and made contact with the officer in command in the bridge.

"We've been ambushed. The prisoner has got away. Search through the security cameras again and contact all security squads within the ship. Sweep the entire ship and flush them out."

She waited for a few seconds and frowned when she failed to hear a response. "Officer? Come in! Officer!"

The channel was blank.

Nova's eyes widened as she realized what was really going on. Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, she started running down the hall.

The two ghosts exchanged a look before following her.


	63. Chapter 63

On the other side, Jean returned a trigger panel into her watch.

Nova was a good tactician and an experienced assassin, but she had one disadvantage. She didn't know the secret weapon Jean had.

The watch.

Logically speaking, Jean knew if she broke out and created a chaos, Nova would certainly spread all the active forces she had throughout the ship and bring the rest over to the cell. Nova had no idea how Jean got out, and she would do everything she can to be sure.

This would give Jean an opportunity to proceed with her plan.

Of course, just because the cell was a distraction didn't mean she was going to leave it as anything but a death trap. After all, she was Jean Turner.

A charger from her watch, along with a motion sensor, was installed inside the cell. When Jean saw the alarm on the motion sensor, she waited two seconds to make sure everyone get in and triggered the charger.

She didn't know if Nova was killed, but she didn't really mind. If she was killed in the blast, great. If she wasn't, no harm done.

Turning around once more, Jean walked by a squad of eight elite marines. The Special Forces glanced at her, but instead of walking by her and proceeding with their mission like all the other squads, one of the soldiers raised his armed hand, and the entire patrol group stopped.

"You there, stop." He pointed at Jean.

Jean stopped.

"Your armor is not of our type. You're not a Special Forces personnel. How did you get here? Hands behind your head now!" The elite marine glanced at Jean's inferior CMC armor. It was difficult to spot the difference when the men were in a hurry, but in a calm, safe position someone could see it sooner or later.

Jean nodded and complied. The elite marine walked forward while the others held their rifles up at Jean, but then all hell went loose.

All of a sudden, a dozen metal warbots appeared around the elite marines. Defenders cannons ripped through human bodies. Eradicators rolled over men and women.

"All units, we need…" The leading marine, noticing the situation, tried yelling a warning inside the communication channel. He knew his squad was doomed. Compared to firing pointlessly at the armored warbots and waste the few seconds, he tried to warn his comrades, but he was cut off by a crimson blade to the heart.

Jean dropped the blade and waved her hand, and the warbots, having slaughtered the squad of marines, moved forward. They reached the bridge in no time.

An ARES fired a pair of 120mm cannon at the blast door of the gate of the bridge. The first rounds merely shook the door, but the warbot kept on firing. Ten seconds later, the door was cracked open.

The warbots entered the bridge and started gunning down the officers inside. A couple elite marines retaliated, but all the reserves and ghosts were taken away by Nova to the cell. The rest were severely outgunned.

Bodies hit the floor. Blood splattered around the control panels.

One of the officers drew her pistol and took aim at a warbot and fired repeatedly, but the bullets merely bounced off the armor. The warbot was turning around, but Jean was quicker as she raised her pistol and pumped a single round into the woman's chest.

Not even looking at the body, Jean walked to one of the panels and started typing.

At first she tried to activate the self destruction sequence, but she quickly realized a function of that length needed someone like Nova to activate. Otherwise, any sailor with some mental illness could bring down the entire ship and kill all the hundreds of personnel on it. Only the captain or other high ranking officers had the authority to issue such a command.

Jean wasn't disappointed. She merely turned to the engine control and issued an order. As she was done, she glanced at one of the computer screens.

It had a number.

2:00.

1:59.

* * *

"Sir, the ship should be exiting warp space in two minutes." One of the Spec Ops ghost glanced at a clock in his visor and reported.

Nova and the two ghosts were running toward the bridge as quickly as possible. They have met several groups of Special Forces soldiers on the way, and all the soldiers were ordered to join Nova in her quest back to the bridge.

The ghost knew the bridge was compromised, likely by Jean. That meant she had control of where the ship was going. If she wanted to, she could warp the ship to a rebel base and bring the hundreds of Special Forces to their slaughterhouse.

Nova couldn't let that happen.

"All units within the proximity of the warp drive, converge on the warp drive and manually disable it. Others approach the bridge. Proceed with extreme caution. The target is armed and extremely dangerous. Termination is authorized." Nova ordered, not stopping.

The battlecruiser held hundreds of Special Forces units, but when spread out all across this one kilometer long capital ship these hundreds of men were not enough to hold all the key positions.

A few squads complied and ran to the warp drive. The leading marine typed a string of access code into the computer, and the drive was put under lockdown. Without the ability to jump, even if Jean was in control when they exited warp space, there was no way the battlecruiser could escape the surround of the Dominion Fleet around Korhal.

Jean was trapped. She might have taken Nova by surprise, but in the end everything was the same. As long as she could trap Jean inside the ship when the ship exits warp space, the girl would still be captured nonetheless.

That was why Nova was heading toward the bridge now. Even if she couldn't kill Jean, she needed to trap her there.

It took less than a minute before Nova and the Special Forces reached the door of the bridge. One of the elite marines ran forward, but a series of defender cannons hit his shield. The man quickly hopped back and turned over the corner.

"How the hell did that bitch sneak warbots onto this ship?" The man complained subconsciously but quickly caught himself as he realized he was beside Nova. Such unprofessional words wasn't exactly approved in the Dominion army.

A couple marauder commandos prepared for a charge, but Nova stopped them.

"All we need to do is hold our ground. This is the only way out. As long as we pin the prisoner inside the bridge, sooner or later she'll be captured. We don't need to advance, at least not now." She turned to one of the ghosts. "Contact Alpha and Omega Squadron and tell them to send reinforcements."

If the Special Forces attacked, they could probably seize the enemy position, but at what cost? Dominion Special Forces were elite troopers, not cannon fodders. Situations like this, charging into enemy mech units through a narrow position without friendly fire support, especially when the situation wasn't desperate, was a job for common marines and marauders.

"Yes sir."

"The rest of you, establish a defensive formation. Keep a tab on the ship. I want to know everything the prisoner is doing."

"Yes sir." A female ghost nodded.

* * *

The Dominion fleets appeared in orbit of Korhal two minutes later. Nova peaked at the bridge once again and frowned. The prisoner didn't even attempt to break out. Why? She must know she needed to do something.

She turned to a marauder commando and nodded, and the man tried to move forward, only to get shot in the chest by a string of cannon rounds. He was helped back to safety by a couple comrades.

So Jean was still there. Nova had no idea where her warbots came from, but her men had the place surrounded.

"Sir!" The female ghost suddenly caught Nova's attention. "Sir, the ship's engine has been turned to maximum."

"What? Where to?" There was no way the battlecruiser could outrun the Dominion ships. Just the Alpha and Omega Squadrons could do a short ranged jump and fully surround the Special Forces battlecruiser. As the capital of the Dominion, Korhal had half a dozen fleets, including the Pride of Augustgrad fleet. There was no way a single battlecruiser could run away from all of them just by its engine.

The ghost frowned and checked the data again before responding. A sense of disbelief was in her voice. "The Sky Shield. The prisoner is ramming this ship into the Sky Shield!"

Nova's eyes widened. The Sky Shield was the major orbital defense platform of Korhal. If the capital planet was to be invaded, the Dominion Fleet could fall back to the firepower of the Sky Shield and stand up against an enemy they couldn't defeat in a frontal engagement.

Such an important structure was obviously heavily defended. A hostile battlecruiser couldn't even touch it before being ripped apart by the full might of the firepower of both the platform itself and the fleet protecting it. In a normal situation a kamikaze attack would be shut down almost as soon as it was put in action.

But this wasn't normal.

The Special Forces battlecruiser still had all the Special Forces unit on it. If the ship was to be taken out, then the hundreds of elite marines, marauder commandos, Spec Ops ghosts, and strike goliaths would perish. This would be a heavy loss.

"Sir, General Warfield wants us to evacuate the ship. He needs to be firing upon this ship as soon as possible. We can't afford to take any risk with the Sky Shield." General Warfield was the commander of the Korhal Defense Fleet.

Nova understood Warfield's decision. Jean was valuable, and it would be nice if she could find out who Jean sneaked her warbots onto the top secret Special Forces battlecruiser, but while turning her to a Dominion asset was good, silencing her permanently wasn't such a bad idea either. If the Sky Shield was down, not only the platform itself would be lost, so would the people's trust in the Dominion government. If a single prison could easily hijack an entire battlecruiser and use it to take down the shield of Korhal and there was nothing the Dominion could do about it, how could the Dominion protect the people? Neither Warfield nor Mengsk could allow something like that to happen.

"All units, move to the hangar and prepare for evacuation!"

"But sir, what should we do with the prisoner?" One of the elite marines looked at the bridge.

"Leave her. Without a way out she will die in the explosion." Nova turned around. "Move!"

The Special Forces turned around and ran to the hangar. Every single one of them knew the longer they took to evacuate the ship, the more difficult it would be for the Dominion Fleet to keep the ship from smashing into the Sky Shield.

A dozen specialized dropships were inside the hangar. They were armed with cloaking fields and warp drives. The soldiers entered the transports and shut the doors. A couple pilots were already waiting in the cockpit. One of the ghosts pressed something on his PC, and the door of the hangar was opened.

The dropships left the battlecruiser one by one.

When the Special Forces were clear, the entirety of both the Dominion Fleet and the Sky Shield opened fire. Yamato Cannons smashed into the ship by the dozens. Drakken orbital cannons snapped the ship in two. The battlecruiser turned on its defensive matrix, as if it was the last attempt by the pilot to save herself, but it was useless. The ship was in pieces in just minutes. Everything on it was destroyed.

"All Special Forces personnel rendezvous on the Sky Shield."

"Yes sir!"

In the end, when Nova reunited with her men, she realized two of the dropships were gone, but she didn't think anything of it. Modified and elite didn't mean invincible. If a dropship was accidentally hit by a random debris or stray round, it would explode, and every unit on it, Special Forces or not, would die. That was just a fact, and chances are some of the dropships were in the wrong place.

That was unfortunate, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Still, Nova was quite satisfied. Tosh's ally was dead, and now she could make a move on the spectre himself without fear of mysteriously losing her ships.

* * *

Meanwhile, one of the dropships was inside warp space.

One of the elite marines frowned. "Where are we going? We should be going to Sky's Shield."

The pilot didn't answer.

The twelve elite marines looked at each other in confusion, but the next second the pilot turned around. Two pistols were in her hands.

The elite marines tried to react, but they were completely caught by surprise. Their helmets were up. Their weapons' safeties were off. They were mentally unprepared.

Twelve shots in six seconds. Twelve bodies hit the ground.

As the men died, Jean returned the pistols to her holster and sat back down.

When Jean was in the bridge, she installed a series of instructions into the computer that would be carried out as soon as the time was there, whether she was there or not. When she was done, instead of waiting in the bridge to be surrounded by Nova, she simply walked out and went to the hangar. There were some guards, but she took care of them with either her blade and other weapons or her warbots.

When she got to the hangar, she went inside one of the dropships and waited. If she went out when the battlecruiser got out of warp space, she would catch quite the attention. After all, she would be the only dropship. The transport had a cloaking field, but the Dominion Fleet had detection.

However, she knew with the battlecruiser set on a course to smash into the Sky Shield, the Dominion would need to take it out. But unless it was absolutely necessary, even the Dominion wasn't willing to sacrifice someone as useful as Nova and the Special Forces. They would be given a chance to evacuate.

When dozens of dropships came out of the hangar at once, she wouldn't catch any attention. Everyone would think she was just another transport full of Dominion soldiers. She could get into warp space without being stopped.

She didn't expect the squad of Special Forces marines to get on her transport, but she quickly solved that problem.

Laying back in her chair, Jean looked at the surrounding and started thinking. At this point, she has already reached her goal. The Dominion thought she was dead and wouldn't come after her anymore. Even if someone wonders if she was truly on the ship when it exploded, they wouldn't have the evidence to start a real investigation. She had a dropship with a warp drive and therefore the power to go wherever she pleased.

Jean quietly chose a pair of coordinates.


	64. Chapter 64

On the other side, Jean returned a trigger panel into her watch.

Nova was a good tactician and an experienced assassin, but she had one disadvantage. She didn't know the secret weapon Jean had.

The watch.

Logically speaking, Jean knew if she broke out and created a chaos, Nova would certainly spread all the active forces she had throughout the ship and bring the rest over to the cell. Nova had no idea how Jean got out, and she would do everything she can to be sure.

This would give Jean an opportunity to proceed with her plan.

Of course, just because the cell was a distraction didn't mean she was going to leave it as anything but a death trap. After all, she was Jean Turner.

A charger from her watch, along with a motion sensor, was installed inside the cell. When Jean saw the alarm on the motion sensor, she waited two seconds to make sure everyone get in and triggered the charger.

She didn't know if Nova was killed, but she didn't really mind. If she was killed in the blast, great. If she wasn't, no harm done.

Turning around once more, Jean walked by a squad of eight elite marines. The Special Forces glanced at her, but instead of walking by her and proceeding with their mission like all the other squads, one of the soldiers raised his armed hand, and the entire patrol group stopped.

"You there, stop." He pointed at Jean.

Jean stopped.

"Your armor is not of our type. You're not a Special Forces personnel. How did you get here? Hands behind your head now!" The elite marine glanced at Jean's inferior CMC armor. It was difficult to spot the difference when the men were in a hurry, but in a calm, safe position someone could see it sooner or later.

Jean nodded and complied. The elite marine walked forward while the others held their rifles up at Jean, but then all hell went loose.

All of a sudden, a dozen metal warbots appeared around the elite marines. Defenders cannons ripped through human bodies. Eradicators rolled over men and women.

"All units, we need…" The leading marine, noticing the situation, tried yelling a warning inside the communication channel. He knew his squad was doomed. Compared to firing pointlessly at the armored warbots and waste the few seconds, he tried to warn his comrades, but he was cut off by a crimson blade to the heart.

Jean dropped the blade and waved her hand, and the warbots, having slaughtered the squad of marines, moved forward. They reached the bridge in no time.

An ARES fired a pair of 120mm cannon at the blast door of the gate of the bridge. The first rounds merely shook the door, but the warbot kept on firing. Ten seconds later, the door was cracked open.

The warbots entered the bridge and started gunning down the officers inside. A couple elite marines retaliated, but all the reserves and ghosts were taken away by Nova to the cell. The rest were severely outgunned.

Bodies hit the floor. Blood splattered around the control panels.

One of the officers drew her pistol and took aim at a warbot and fired repeatedly, but the bullets merely bounced off the armor. The warbot was turning around, but Jean was quicker as she raised her pistol and pumped a single round into the woman's chest.

Not even looking at the body, Jean walked to one of the panels and started typing.

At first she tried to activate the self destruction sequence, but she quickly realized a function of that length needed someone like Nova to activate. Otherwise, any sailor with some mental illness could bring down the entire ship and kill all the hundreds of personnel on it. Only the captain or other high ranking officers had the authority to issue such a command.

Jean wasn't disappointed. She merely turned to the engine control and issued an order. As she was done, she glanced at one of the computer screens.

It had a number.

2:00.

1:59.

* * *

"Sir, the ship should be exiting warp space in two minutes." One of the Spec Ops ghost glanced at a clock in his visor and reported.

Nova and the two ghosts were running toward the bridge as quickly as possible. They have met several groups of Special Forces soldiers on the way, and all the soldiers were ordered to join Nova in her quest back to the bridge.

The ghost knew the bridge was compromised, likely by Jean. That meant she had control of where the ship was going. If she wanted to, she could warp the ship to a rebel base and bring the hundreds of Special Forces to their slaughterhouse.

Nova couldn't let that happen.

"All units within the proximity of the warp drive, converge on the warp drive and manually disable it. Others approach the bridge. Proceed with extreme caution. The target is armed and extremely dangerous. Termination is authorized." Nova ordered, not stopping.

The battlecruiser held hundreds of Special Forces units, but when spread out all across this one kilometer long capital ship these hundreds of men were not enough to hold all the key positions.

A few squads complied and ran to the warp drive. The leading marine typed a string of access code into the computer, and the drive was put under lockdown. Without the ability to jump, even if Jean was in control when they exited warp space, there was no way the battlecruiser could escape the surround of the Dominion Fleet around Korhal.

Jean was trapped. She might have taken Nova by surprise, but in the end everything was the same. As long as she could trap Jean inside the ship when the ship exits warp space, the girl would still be captured nonetheless.

That was why Nova was heading toward the bridge now. Even if she couldn't kill Jean, she needed to trap her there.

It took less than a minute before Nova and the Special Forces reached the door of the bridge. One of the elite marines ran forward, but a series of defender cannons hit his shield. The man quickly hopped back and turned over the corner.

"How the hell did that bitch sneak warbots onto this ship?" The man complained subconsciously but quickly caught himself as he realized he was beside Nova. Such unprofessional words wasn't exactly approved in the Dominion army.

A couple marauder commandos prepared for a charge, but Nova stopped them.

"All we need to do is hold our ground. This is the only way out. As long as we pin the prisoner inside the bridge, sooner or later she'll be captured. We don't need to advance, at least not now." She turned to one of the ghosts. "Contact Alpha and Omega Squadron and tell them to send reinforcements."

If the Special Forces attacked, they could probably seize the enemy position, but at what cost? Dominion Special Forces were elite troopers, not cannon fodders. Situations like this, charging into enemy mech units through a narrow position without friendly fire support, especially when the situation wasn't desperate, was a job for common marines and marauders.

"Yes sir."

"The rest of you, establish a defensive formation. Keep a tab on the ship. I want to know everything the prisoner is doing."

"Yes sir." A female ghost nodded.

* * *

The Dominion fleets appeared in orbit of Korhal two minutes later. Nova peaked at the bridge once again and frowned. The prisoner didn't even attempt to break out. Why? She must know she needed to do something.

She turned to a marauder commando and nodded, and the man tried to move forward, only to get shot in the chest by a string of cannon rounds. He was helped back to safety by a couple comrades.

So Jean was still there. Nova had no idea where her warbots came from, but her men had the place surrounded.

"Sir!" The female ghost suddenly caught Nova's attention. "Sir, the ship's engine has been turned to maximum."

"What? Where to?" There was no way the battlecruiser could outrun the Dominion ships. Just the Alpha and Omega Squadrons could do a short ranged jump and fully surround the Special Forces battlecruiser. As the capital of the Dominion, Korhal had half a dozen fleets, including the Pride of Augustgrad fleet. There was no way a single battlecruiser could run away from all of them just by its engine.

The ghost frowned and checked the data again before responding. A sense of disbelief was in her voice. "The Sky Shield. The prisoner is ramming this ship into the Sky Shield!"

Nova's eyes widened. The Sky Shield was the major orbital defense platform of Korhal. If the capital planet was to be invaded, the Dominion Fleet could fall back to the firepower of the Sky Shield and stand up against an enemy they couldn't defeat in a frontal engagement.

Such an important structure was obviously heavily defended. A hostile battlecruiser couldn't even touch it before being ripped apart by the full might of the firepower of both the platform itself and the fleet protecting it. In a normal situation a kamikaze attack would be shut down almost as soon as it was put in action.

But this wasn't normal.

The Special Forces battlecruiser still had all the Special Forces unit on it. If the ship was to be taken out, then the hundreds of elite marines, marauder commandos, Spec Ops ghosts, and strike goliaths would perish. This would be a heavy loss.

"Sir, General Warfield wants us to evacuate the ship. He needs to be firing upon this ship as soon as possible. We can't afford to take any risk with the Sky Shield." General Warfield was the commander of the Korhal Defense Fleet.

Nova understood Warfield's decision. Jean was valuable, and it would be nice if she could find out who Jean sneaked her warbots onto the top secret Special Forces battlecruiser, but while turning her to a Dominion asset was good, silencing her permanently wasn't such a bad idea either. If the Sky Shield was down, not only the platform itself would be lost, so would the people's trust in the Dominion government. If a single prison could easily hijack an entire battlecruiser and use it to take down the shield of Korhal and there was nothing the Dominion could do about it, how could the Dominion protect the people? Neither Warfield nor Mengsk could allow something like that to happen.

"All units, move to the hangar and prepare for evacuation!"

"But sir, what should we do with the prisoner?" One of the elite marines looked at the bridge.

"Leave her. Without a way out she will die in the explosion." Nova turned around. "Move!"

The Special Forces turned around and ran to the hangar. Every single one of them knew the longer they took to evacuate the ship, the more difficult it would be for the Dominion Fleet to keep the ship from smashing into the Sky Shield.

A dozen specialized dropships were inside the hangar. They were armed with cloaking fields and warp drives. The soldiers entered the transports and shut the doors. A couple pilots were already waiting in the cockpit. One of the ghosts pressed something on his PC, and the door of the hangar was opened.

The dropships left the battlecruiser one by one.

When the Special Forces were clear, the entirety of both the Dominion Fleet and the Sky Shield opened fire. Yamato Cannons smashed into the ship by the dozens. Drakken orbital cannons snapped the ship in two. The battlecruiser turned on its defensive matrix, as if it was the last attempt by the pilot to save herself, but it was useless. The ship was in pieces in just minutes. Everything on it was destroyed.

"All Special Forces personnel rendezvous on the Sky Shield."

"Yes sir!"

In the end, when Nova reunited with her men, she realized two of the dropships were gone, but she didn't think anything of it. Modified and elite didn't mean invincible. If a dropship was accidentally hit by a random debris or stray round, it would explode, and every unit on it, Special Forces or not, would die. That was just a fact, and chances are some of the dropships were in the wrong place.

That was unfortunate, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Still, Nova was quite satisfied. Tosh's ally was dead, and now she could make a move on the spectre himself without fear of mysteriously losing her ships.

* * *

Meanwhile, one of the dropships was inside warp space.

One of the elite marines frowned. "Where are we going? We should be going to Sky's Shield."

The pilot didn't answer.

The twelve elite marines looked at each other in confusion, but the next second the pilot turned around. Two pistols were in her hands.

The elite marines tried to react, but they were completely caught by surprise. Their helmets were up. Their weapons' safeties were off. They were mentally unprepared.

Twelve shots in six seconds. Twelve bodies hit the ground.

As the men died, Jean returned the pistols to her holster and sat back down.

When Jean was in the bridge, she installed a series of instructions into the computer that would be carried out as soon as the time was there, whether she was there or not. When she was done, instead of waiting in the bridge to be surrounded by Nova, she simply walked out and went to the hangar. There were some guards, but she took care of them with either her blade and other weapons or her warbots.

When she got to the hangar, she went inside one of the dropships and waited. If she went out when the battlecruiser got out of warp space, she would catch quite the attention. After all, she would be the only dropship. The transport had a cloaking field, but the Dominion Fleet had detection.

However, she knew with the battlecruiser set on a course to smash into the Sky Shield, the Dominion would need to take it out. But unless it was absolutely necessary, even the Dominion wasn't willing to sacrifice someone as useful as Nova and the Special Forces. They would be given a chance to evacuate.

When dozens of dropships came out of the hangar at once, she wouldn't catch any attention. Everyone would think she was just another transport full of Dominion soldiers. She could get into warp space without being stopped.

She didn't expect the squad of Special Forces marines to get on her transport, but she quickly solved that problem.

Laying back in her chair, Jean looked at the surrounding and started thinking. At this point, she has already reached her goal. The Dominion thought she was dead and wouldn't come after her anymore. Even if someone wonders if she was truly on the ship when it exploded, they wouldn't have the evidence to start a real investigation. She had a dropship with a warp drive and therefore the power to go wherever she pleased.

Jean quietly chose a pair of coordinates.


	65. Chapter 65

"My master, we have seized all the Daelaam ships!" Inside the bridge of one of the captured carriers, an ascendant knelt down and reported. A fractured golden armor was lying under his right leg. It belonged to the previous owner of the carrier.

All the ascendants Nyon sent to take the ships were his supplicants. He had no intention of taking two dozen ships just so other ascendants could own it.

"Join my fleet. We will modify these ships after we return to Slayn. The gold color of the Firstborn disgusts me." Nyon was complaining, but deep down he was smiling. In usual looting, especially against Daelaam fleets, it was difficult for the Tal'darim to take all the enemy ships. In fact, sometimes the Tal'darim would be forced to destroy all the enemy ships and return with nothing but a handful of wounded ships.

Something like this, taking all 24 enemy capital ships and adding them to his fleet, was a miracle.

The whole process seemed easy, but it was actually extremely demanding in term of the schedule. If the stasis was a second too late... If the stasis didn't catch all the Daelaam fleet... If the Tal'darim boarding parties weren't strong enough...Thankfully, none of that happened, and the Tal'darim came out on top.

Even Fifth Ascendant Ji'nara only had a hundred or so ships. At this point Nyon was totally capable of challenging her in terms of influence, although he might not be able to defeat her in a Rak'Shir duel.

Nonetheless, it was a great improvement.

The Sixth Ascendant eyed Jean. The girl helped him, and it was time to repay the favor.

"All ships move descend upon the Daelaam facility. Obliterate their orbital defenses but leave the facility itself intact. Deploy war prisms. When they are in place, warp in supplicants. Kill all the Daelaam."

"Don't forget to post patrols to look out for the Golden Armada." Jean reminded.

"Send out scouts and phoenixes. Patrol the perimeter. If the Golden Armada arrives, do all you can to delay them even it means sacrificing your lives."

"Yes my master."

As the Tal'darim fleet descended and started exchanging fire with the orbital cannons, Nyon turned to the hologram of Jean once again. "I assume you want to be in the facility yourself. I will notify you when my warriors take out all the Daelaam. I have given them a strict order to comply with everything you want. You did your part and helped me, and now I will do my part."

Inside her dropship, Jean nodded in acknowledgment. She didn't really trust Nyon, but she did know he still needed her. As long as she still had value, Nyon wouldn't betray her, and through the tactical advises she has repeatedly proven her value.

* * *

When the Special Forces dropship hit the ground, the Daelaam were nothing but broken armors, ownerless weapons, and speckles of psionic energy.

Two Tal'darim supplicant zealots see Jean walking out, but they didn't do anything drastic. Nyon had ultimate control over his supplicants. This control was enough to overcome the Tal'darim's desire to kill any living being they see that wasn't one of them.

Jean walked deeper and deeper into the facility. The helmet of her Dominion marine CMC armor was sealed shut as the facility, designed for protoss, didn't hold any oxygen. Walking by a fried psionic blade generator, Jean stopped in front of a control panel.

She quickly realized a problem.

She didn't understand the protoss language…

Everything about protoss was so mysterious to terran, whether it was their technology, their culture, their biological structure, or their words. There might be a translation between the protoss language and that of terran somewhere in the Umojan Protectorate or the Terran Dominion, but Jean has never had access to that translation.

Thankfully, she had the backup of an army of protoss.

She waved her hand at one of the Tal'darim zealots. The warrior groaned. It took all his loyalty to Nyon to stop himself from slicing the terran weakling to pieces. There was no way he would do her biddings. Then he remembered Nyon told all his supplicants to obey Jean's orders, and it took two seconds for the zealot to make up the decision to comply.

"Translate everything in this console to terran language and give me a copy."

Jean ordered explicitly, not bothering with politeness. The Tal'darim culture meant that politeness wouldn't matter at all. If the zealot was going to help her, being polite would be pointless. If he wasn't helping her, she saying thank you couldn't change his opinion.

The brute glanced at the console before turning to Jean blankly. "Manufacturing and technology is the work of the weak."

 _Which is your way of saying you don't understand these information..._ Jean frowned and took out the communicator with Nyon.

"I need you to send me a phase smith."

"Why?" Nyon, laying back in his throne, frowned. Jean explained her obstacle to him, and the Sixth Ascendant nodded. Seconds later, a light beam solidified, and a Tal'darim in a light armor walked out. Jean keenly noticed the zealot that talked to her smirking.

In a society like the Tal'darim, knowledge wasn't appreciated. As far as the zealots could see, only weaklings bothered with making weapons and ships. Oddly, this was similar inside the Daelaam. Phase smith that could develop weapons powerful enough to change the tide of war were treated like servants.

"How may I serve?" The phase smith asked nicely. While Nyon's elite supplicant warriors were too proud to serve a human being, the phase smith was less confident, especially when the Sixth Ascendant himself came to him and issued the order.

"Translate everything in this console to terran language and give me a copy."

The phase smith checked out the console and started working. While he was working, Jean turned back to the supplicant zealot. "Summon your warriors and search the facility. Locate a vessel called the Megalith."

The zealot nodded slowly and departed. He might not be the wisest protoss in the room, but he might just be the strongest.

Purifiers were ancient protoss mechanical warriors created by the conclave for one purpose: War. Some of the Purifiers held the AI personalities of famous protoss warriors fallen in battle. Others held simple Artificial Intelligences that allowed them to fight in battle as efficiently as possible. The mechanical nature of the Purifiers meant they could be produced in the millions. With swarming numbers, impenetrable metal bodies, and centuries of experience, the Purifiers were the sharpest blade of the Protoss Empire.

If the Purifiers were still active during the Brood War, then the swarm might be the ones swarmed.

Unfortunately, a war broke out between the Purifiers and the Khala centuries before the Brood War. The Daelaam deemed the Purifiers, without nerve cords and therefore lacking connection with the Khala, untrustworthy. The Purifiers were tired of being treated as slaves instead of warriors.

In the end, the Purifiers were defeated. The Great Fleet of the Khala destroyed the Purifier fleet. However, instead of slaughtering the Purifiers to the last, the Conclave decided to seal the Purifier army inside an ultimate vessel called the Cybros and put the Cybros in stasis above the planet of Endion. If a threat arose for the protoss civilization, the Purifiers could be reactivated.

The protoss were seriously afraid of facing an apocalypse. First they sealed off three arkships under the surface of Aiur and stored armies and armies of elite templars in stasis in the ships. Then they sealed the Purifiers above Endion in case something went wrong.

These measures might just save the protoss race, but it appeared like today Jean would be the one benefiting from the conclave's caution.

In order to activate Purifiers, Jean needed to turn off the stasis field of Cybros first. The only device that could do that was a vessel called Megalith. Jean knew from her memory the Megalith was stored in this facility. The research information was good, but if she could find the Megalith, she could go to Endion and release the Purifiers.

With the Purifiers in stasis, Jean could make some alterations and hopefully make them her puppet.

"Terran female," A few minutes later, the phase smith walked to Jean. He didn't know her name, so she referred to her race and sex. He handed her a disk, which Jean plugged into her armor. The content was projected to the inside of her helmet.

The disk contained information about two types of units. Sentinels and instigators.

After the fall of Aiur and after Artanis took power, he considered reactivating the Purifiers. Unfortunately, he encountered heavy resistance. Older templars didn't trust the Purifiers, and most of the Daelaam felt like the Golden Armada was enough to take back Aiur. The Daelaam was at a low point, but it wasn't so low that they needed to risk using the Purifiers and risk having them turn against the Daelaam.

So Artanis went to the second best thing. In the facility of Glacius, he ordered certain khalai to use sealed data kept in the Daelaam archive to create a brand new Purifier army. Something as large as activating the Purifiers needed the consent of the twilight council, but setting up a research facility didn't.

Sentinels were Purifier zealots. They weren't nearly as powerful as ancient Purifier legionnaires, extremely mighty melee warriors that could almost certainly defeat a Daelaam zealot in a fair fight. In fact, these sentinels were barely a match for Daelaam zealots. However, the sentinels had their own advantages. Their mechanical nature meant they could reconstruct their bodies and repair most damage. Unless their bodies were completely destroyed, like being stomped on by an Ultralisk or melted by a hellbat, the sentinels could keep on fighting. Even if their heads were taken off, they could keep on charging.

When Artanis first saw information about this unit, he considered it a critical weapon capable of changing the tide of war. One of the limiting features that kept the Daelaam from forming an army of billions of zealots was the lack of protoss population. The Daelaam had enough resource to arm tens of millions of warriors, but they simply didn't have the warriors to arm.

A protoss took centuries of training and experience to become a zealot. This meant there was hardly any regeneration in population during the four years of peace after the Brood War. Every protoss that died in battle meant one less protoss in the sector. Even with all the emergency warping systems and dragoons and immortals, the Daelaam population was still continuously declining. If they kept on trading precious warriors with cheap zerg and terran units who took a relatively short time to grow, the Daelaam would be gone before the war ever ends.

But if the Daelaam could turn all the minerals they had into sentinels that could fight the moment they have been assembled, the Daelaam will have enough to swarm over any enemy.

That was why despite facing intense resistance, Artanis still ordered the development of these units. With sufficient support and resource, the Khalai on Glacius has already came up with a near complete unit profile. Anyone with the information and sufficient resources could start making these sentinels.

This was designed so the Daelaam could have an army of sentinels as soon as possible, but now everything has became the property of Jean.

Instigators were similar to sentinels in that they were also capable of being mass produced. They were Purifier stalkers. Their mechanical body allowed them to blink multiple times, therefore giving them incredible maneuverability. Just like the sentinels, they weren't the strongest unit in the field, but they were certainly one of the easiest to produce.

Jean nodded at the Tal'darim phase smith. One of her two goals was complete. Now all she needed was the Megalith, and she could leave this planet and head for Endion.

A couple minutes later, a squad of twenty zealots brought a giant vessel over. Its yellow theme was that of the Purifiers.

It was Jean's key to the Purifiers.

For a moment Jean wondered why Artanis left both information about the sentinels and instigators and the Megalith in somewhere as defenseless as this facility. Two fleets could shut down most aggressions, but if anyone knew about the significance of this place, they would certainly have enough ships to wipe out the defense fleets. If Jean was in Artanis' position she would keep these key components in the safest place possible.

Jean didn't know Artanis was forced to keep these objects in a relatively remote area. Artanis knew how important the Megalith was, but as the hierarch, he was more of a military commander than an overall leader. He needed to comply with the will of his people. Plus, the Golden Armada was already on heavy duty. It needed to defend the Tal'darim, the Swarm, the Dominion, and all the planets that belonged to the Daelaam. Two fleets were the most Artanis could spare. If he kept more ships around Glacius and, as a consequence, protoss territories were taken and protoss people were slaughtered, Artanis would have a civil conflict at hand.

Then again, it's not that any of this mattered. Jean was able to return to her dropship and lift off with everything she came here for. When she was gone, so was the Tal'darim. As they left, Nyon cruelly ordered an orbital bombardment. Her motherships' displacement beams melted the entire facility and destroyed whatever information or research that were left.

The Tal'darim didn't need this information, but they wouldn't miss a chance to hurt others, even if the action couldn't help them. Jean might leave the unit info to the Daelaam after making a copy, but Nyon just wanted to see the world burn at his command.

In one of the chambers, a prototype Purifier was melted.

Half an hour after Glacius was destroyed, the Golden Armada reinforcement, under Executor Selendis, finally arrived.

They didn't like what they saw.


	66. Chapter 66

"Do you require any further aid?" In front of Jean, Nyon was so happy that he was willing to go out of the deal and help Jean do something else. He felt like he got more than he did. As far as he could see, 24 capital ships were worth much more than a weak, almost pointless, piece of mech and some useless information.

As a Tal'darim, he didn't really value fairness, but an uneven trade was the seed to a fractured alliance. Nyon needed Jean. In fact, after having a taste of her out of the box tactics, he couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have her help. After slaughtering 24 ships with wild tactics and brilliant timing, attacking them straight on and destroying them with pure firepower seemed stupid.

Jean nodded. "I am sending you a set of coordinates. I need a fleet or two over there with sufficient ground forces to take down a contingent of Daelaam templar. I no longer need all your ships, though." Unlike Glacius, Endion wasn't really heavily defended. Jean didn't need ninety ships to take it.

Nyon nodded and passed down the orders before returning to face Jean. "What do you suggest me do next? Challenge someone?"

After taking over all two Daelaam fleets, Nyon's ambition was growing. Centuries of experience with the chain of ascension demanded him to ascend as much as possible as soon as possible. He wanted to challenge someone, defeat him, and become one step closer to the seat of Highlord.

"You need allies." Jean hinted. "Establish an alliance with some of the top ascendants. As far as I can tell from the information you gave me, Highlord Ma'lash and Second Ascendant Guraj are in alliance. First Ascendant Nuroka and Third Ascendant Zenish are in alliance. Fourth Ascendant Alarak and Fifth Ascendant Ji'nara are in alliance. You can't be a force of your own or all the alliances will try to take you out and replace you with someone they can control. I suggest you side with Alarak and Ji'nara."

"Why?"

"If you join Ma'lash or Nuroka, you will be the one with the least fleet. As a result you will have the lowest status and earn the fewest prize if a victory was achieved. On the other hand, Alarak and Ji'nara are only slightly above you. They don't have the overwhelming power, so they need to respect you and give you whatever you demand to keep you on their side. Plus, Ma'lash and Nuroka are in direct competition. Siding with one means going against the other. Alarak and Ji'nara are relatively neutral. Neither Ma'lash nor Nuroka will risk making three top ascendants join the other side."

"But can I challenge someone? I feel like I'm strong enough to crush Ji'nara." Nyon said, slightly unsatisfied by Jean's advise.

"It's risky. If you want to be defeated in a duel and die a painful death, then go for it."

"Fine." Nyon finally complied.

Jean turned off the comm and entered a set of coordinates into her dropship. Just seconds later, the ship was gone.

* * *

Endion.

This jungle planet used to be a protoss research outpost where the top scientists came together and developed new weapons of war. After the Purifiers were defeated, the Purifier vessel Cybros was put into stasis above this planet. 800,000 Khala and a contingent of templar were positioned here with the task of updating the stasis field.

And now they have became a threat to Jean's mission.

Jean was out of units for the time being. The mercenary fleet was destroyed by the Dominion. The Warden Fleet was still in the process of being upgraded. She didn't even have a single battlecruiser. All she had was a dropship and a couple warbots and the Warden units in her watch.

Thankfully, Jean had support from a very helpful Ascendant.

One carrier and twelve destroyers appeared in orbit of the planet. The leading ascendant didn't know why he was tasked with destroying this place, but then again the Tal'darim didn't need a reason to kill. Plus, it was Nyon's orders, and that was enough.

The small fleet descended on the planet. Hundreds of Daelaam phoenixes and scouts lifted off into the air and started dashing toward the Tal'darim, but they were quickly overwhelmed. War prisms deployed supplicants onto the planet's surface. The templar fought back, but they were slaughtered.

As the protoss were pushed back, Jean landed her dropship at one of the stasis web terminals. The Megalith came out. When the Tal'darim seize the mech, the phase smith overwrote the control and gave Jean a way to move it. Otherwise there was no way a human being like Jean could control a piece of protoss technology.

Two Daelaam zealots noticed Jean and charged forward. The next second they were tackled by half a dozen Tal'darim zealots. Jean didn't even flinch.

The Megalith entered the terminal, and Jean simply waited. Half an hour later, when all the Daelaam on the planet were either dead or dying, Jean finally heard the notice she was waiting for.

The next second the stasis field that surrounded the Cybros was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

The Tal'darim fleet has already been sent back to Slayn. Jean didn't think they would try something they shouldn't be trying, but she wasn't taking any chances. She had no intention of going through all the trouble to activate the Purifiers just so a Tal'darim ascendant could backstab her and take the Purifiers for himself.

After she gained control of the Cybros, she warped it to a set of coordinates in a remote area. For what she needed to do, she needed privacy, and she wasn't exactly ready to be jumped on by the entire Golden Armada, which was surely on the way. The Tal'darim were ruthless, but even they couldn't slaughter 800,000 Daelaam without letting a single one of them send out a distress call.

As Jean walked down the bright yellow floor of the Cybros, she was thinking about how she could put the Purifiers under her total control.

There were two types of Purifiers. The first type was made up of the personalities of fallen warriors being installed into Purifier shells. They were the strongest ones, but Jean knew there was no way she could make the proud templar serve her. Ancient warriors, like executor Clolarian, the commander of the Purifiers and the one that lead the rebellion against the conclave, would die before serving a terran.

It was the second type of Purifiers that intrigued Jean. This type consisted of simple AIs. They could fight and have a decent type of intelligence, but that was it. In the end they were still machines, and Jean was good with machines. She was confident she could alter some of their codes and make them loyal servants of her, just like the Warden units.

Thankfully, these units made up 99.99 percent of the Purifier army. Type one Purifiers were commanders, captains, and strike teams, whereas type two were actual foot soldiers. Jean could easily replace the type ones and still have a functional army.

Jean started digging into all the resources she had. She already had some general knowledge about the Purifiers, a gift of the Supreme One. The Glacius facility was created to do research on the Purifiers, and Jean had all the knowledge it held.

It didn't take Jean long to come up with a way.

Purifier units were linked to each other via a Purifier data web. Every Purifier was connected to each other. When one Purifier shell fell in battle, the conscious it held could be passed through the web into a fresh shell. It was also how Purifiers communicated with each other and how their commands were delivered.

More importantly, type two AIs were designed to obey the command of type one personalities. This was their top priority. This was how they were programmed. During the rebellion, it was the type one Purifiers that felt they were unevenly treated and decided to rebel. In fact, type two AIs didn't really have the intelligence to do an uprising. But the moment Clolarian turned against the Khala Conclave, his will was passed down to every single unit within the Purifier army, and every single type two Purifier obeyed his order without a single question.

If Jean could put one of the type one personalities under her control and designate him as the leader of the Purifiers, she could effective command the Purifier legions. That personality might not get the maximum level security clearance, but all the type one AIs were in stasis, which should allow him to advanced unopposed.

But Jean knew very well there was no way she could make a type one AI submit to her. She had no leverage. Purifiers couldn't be tortured. They couldn't be manipulated by love or hate. They rarely have any desire. Even if they did, Jean wouldn't be the one to help them achieve it. If they found out what Jean did, killing the Daelaam and allying with the Tal'darim, she would be the first person they purify. The Purifiers rebelled against the Khala, but in the bottom of their heart they still considered themselves as proud templars.

However, if she could make up a brand new personality, one that doesn't belong to protoss, the story would be different.

Jean turned to the data she had and started working.

It wasn't an easy process. Jean was extremely clever. In fact, she was a genius. Her talent surpassed the best of the terran scientists and engineers, but the task she had in front of her was simply enormous.

Days turned into weeks. Jean spent most of her time working and only ate and slept when it was absolutely necessary to keep her mind clear. Luckily, she kept a ton of food and other living supply in her watch in case she was stranded, and these items kept her from starving to death.

* * *

Meanwhile, a dropship landed at a space platform in a remote area.

As soon as the ship landed, dozens of mercenaries surrounded it. Their weapons were raised, but the next second all of them was lifted into the air. Their rifles fell on the ground, and their bodies were paralyzed.

A female ghost walked out of the dropship. Her eyes were blue from using psionic energy.

"Bring me Tosh..."

"Miss Viper." Half a minute later, when the marines were gradually choking to their death, a deep male voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Tosh's figure emerged from the shadows immediately after. "I don't recall inviting you here."

Viper's eyes returned to her normal color, and the marines collapsed on the ground. Some of them reached for their weapon once again, but Tosh merely waved his hand, and the marines backed off, leaving the scene to the two psionic warriors.

"Jean was captured by the Dominion. Dominion Special Forces hit our place two weeks ago. They obliterated our fleet. I got out, but Jean...she was captured."

Tosh frowned, silently calculating the benefits and price. "Then we should stage a rescue mission, but if the capture happened two weeks ago, Miss Turner is either dead or held under heavy security. We can't…"

"Jean is dead."

During the last moments before the Special Forces reached the bridge, Jean told Viper she would pretend to be captured and then break out. Viper didn't agree and wanted to fight a way out. She knew they couldn't make it out in one piece, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, especially for someone she loved. She would rather fight until the end than leave Jean behind to face danger by herself.

Jean knew that as well, which was why she didn't give Viper a choice. Viper was knocked out by one of the blood hunters from behind. When she woke up again, she was inside a crimson Tal'darim vessel.

When she heard what happened from the blood hunters, Viper was devastated. Jean had her knocked out and proceeded with her plan. A part of her was pissed at Jean for ignoring her opinion, but the rest knew it was the wisest decision.

The ghost had the blood hunters take her to a secondary mercenary platform. For days she waited for Jean's return. She told herself there was nothing to worry about. Jean will survive. She always survives. Orlan didn't stop her. New Folsom didn't stop her. A couple Dominion fleets couldn't stop her either. Sooner or later she would return to her with a smile on her face. It was just a matter of time.

That hope was cruelly shattered when she got tired of waiting, hacked into the Dominion security network, and found a report. The battlecruiser transporting Jean was under attack in warp space. Viper was glad when she saw that. She was less glad when she saw the part about the battlecruiser being piloted to crash into the Sky Shield. It was destroyed in the process. The only survivors from the ship were hundreds of Special Forces personnel.

Agent Nova reported the prisoner, Jean Turner, still being on the ship when it was blown to pieces.

Jean Turner was dead.

Vper didn't know what exactly happened, and she knew it didn't matter. The love of her life was gone, and there was nothing she could do but stay back and watch.

A normal girl would be in tears, but Viper was a highly trained ghost operative. Instead of taking that pain out with tears, she turned the pain into her weapon.

A weapon she would use against the Dominion. Against Tosh. Against Raynor. Against anyone and everyone that turned against her love.

There was a special bond between Jean and Viper. For most of Viper's life, she was being treated as a tool. An instrument. Ever since she was a child, a neural inhibitor sealed off any sense of feeling she had. She didn't know love. She didn't know pleasure. All she knew was how to kill someone most efficiently.

When the neural inhibitor chip inside her failed, Viper fell into a wandering state. She had no purpose. She no longer had a mission to accomplish, a target to terminate, an order to obey. All she had in mind was enjoy her life in a bar and drown herself with alcohol until someone finds her and kills her.

And then Jean came.

Jean was the first entity that went into Viper's hollow heart. Like a knight in shining armor, she came down from the sky and entered her life. Immediately, Viper had someone. Someone who cared about her. This was no longer a commander who desired her ability to kill, or a man who wanted her body, or a comrade who she was tasked with working with. This was someone who she could joke with. Someone she could flirt with. Someone she trusted.

At first the relationship between Jean and her was purely out of interest. Jean made Viper a mercenary leader. Viper helped Jean with her mercenaries. But things changed as they worked together more and more. They turned from allies to friends to lovers.

The desire for the flesh was just a small part. What really connected them was the emotional attachment Viper had on Jean.

And now Jean was dead, killed by the Terran Dominion.

Coming here to Tosh was just the first step to avenge her.

Tosh rose his eyebrows and touched the rifle he carried on his back. "That's unfortunate." He didn't know what the heartbroken ghost would do. If she suddenly attacked him with everything she had, he wouldn't be surprised.

Viper smirked sadly. "Jean died because she helped you."

Tosh looked into Viper's blue eyes. "She knew the risk. It was a deal, and the consequence was hers to pay."

The ghost tilted her head. She was tired of seeing the large man's face, and she decided to skip all the words and get to the point.

"I want to enter Project Shadowblade."

"I want to become a spectre."


	67. Chapter 67

Jean stretched her arms as she put the finishing touch on her work.

A strange looking device was in front of her. It was a headset connected to a purple crystal. On the other end of the room was a large Purifier warbot. Unlike normal Purifiers, this one was made to resemble a female human being. While its body was completely mechanical, it somewhat looked like a terran in a fully concealed armor.

Jean took a deep breath and put the device onto her head.

After realizing she needed a Purifier that was totally loyal to her, it didn't take long for Jean to come to a decision.

She was going to copy her own personality and make a Purifier version of herself.

It was clever. Jean knew another version of her would remain ultimately loyal to her. Purifier AIs were copied from the hosts beforehand, but they were only activated after the host was killed. If there were two entities that were almost identical, the clone might doubt her purpose and identity and mentally fall apart.

This would never happen to Jean. She was emotionless. Things like doubt and madness simply don't happen to her. If the process went correctly, she and the Purifier clone should work well together.

Of course, there was always the possibility of something wrong happening. Just in case, Jean installed four packs of explosives inside the Purifier shell. One wrong move, and she could turn her own clone to pieces.

The headset started shining, and Jean felt brain turning like an engine at maximum speed. She waited patiently, and a beep twenty minutes later finally told her the process was done.

Her personality was recorded.

Jean took the headset off and transported the personality into the Purifier shell. At first the shell didn't move, and Jean simply waited. She was fully confident in her skills with technology. Protoss technology was different from that of terran, but Jean was a clever girl, and she spent weeks on this. The progress she made could shock scientists of any race.

For instance, she was able to modify Purifier technology and make them work on human beings.

The visor of the Purifier shell started blinking. It looked like the visor of a female ghost, only it couldn't be removed. Jean watched as the duplicate of herself gradually gained control of the powerful weapon of war.

"Who...am I?" The Purifier spoke slowly. Her voice was obviously female, but there was a mechanical echo on it.

Jean didn't answer. She simply waited as the Purifier processed her memories. She had all the memory Jean had until the memory collection took place, which included all her planning and research. She was just a bit dizzy in her new form.

Just like Jean thought, it didn't take long for the Purifier to understand the situation.

"What's my name?" She asked explicitly. She and Jean were the only two figures in the conversation, and both knew neither of them were into politeness or formal words. Their conversation was made as efficiently as possible.

"Delta." Name was merely a symbol. Jean used the most straightforward name she could think of.

Delta nodded. "I am establishing control over the Purifier data web now." Both her shell and her personality was modified so they were Purifiers and could access the Purifier data web. In fact, Jean managed to set their levels of authority to level one.

As Delta worked, she suddenly tilted her head. "I have established control over all the type two Purifiers, but there are several Purifiers that are independent of the data web. They can be connected to the web, but I can't control them. I can temporarily seal them off and keep them from transporting their conscious through the data web. I am sending you their locations now. Terminate them physically."

Jean wasn't fazed of being ordered around by her clone. They had the same goal, and those who couldn't feel anger and jealousy couldn't feel insulted. She merely glanced at the set of coordinates that popped up on her helmet's visor.

A tap to her watch sent squads of Warden units toward these locations.

What came next was a slaughter. With the control of the Cybros, Jean let these type one Purifiers out one by one. As soon as they were freed from stasis, these Purifiers didn't even have the time to understand what time period they were in before being mercilessly ravaged through by a small army of Warden marines.

Purifiers were badass, but they were outnumbered several dozen to one. Their weapons and shields weren't even online when they were attacked. The warriors themselves weren't mentally prepared. Time didn't really flow in stasis. One moment they were in the age of the Protoss Empire. The next moment they were gunned down by a bunch of strange looking warbot.

Type one AIs came from the personalities of protoss warriors. They were experienced, but experience couldn't help them when they woke up in the middle of an army of Warden units.

Grey Warden units roamed around the halls, going from chamber to chamber. Once they were in place, they mercilessly carried out their mission.

Forty Warden marines took their position in front one of the most well decorated stasis chambers. They formed four lines. The first two lines knelt down. The lines in the back could fire past the shoulder of the marines in front. They were positioned in such an order so all forty of them could fire at once to ensure maximum firepower. Ten eradicators emerged from behind and covered the sides. One Warden Command Unit was behind all the units.

"Creator, release the target."

"Affirmative." Jean tapped a key on the Cybros control panel, and the stasis chamber was opened up.

Executor Clolarian of the Purifier High Command regained control of his body. His mechanical brain started turning.

Last time he was awake, the templar and the Purifiers were at each other's throat. Countless warriors from both sides perished in the field of battle. The Conclave sealed the Purifiers in stasis instead of slaughtered them, but Clolarian knew there was very little difference. If everything went normally, the templar would never release the Purifiers. They were as good as dead.

But Clolarian didn't regret leading the uprising. Purifiers were templar too, but they were treated as slaves. This unjust situation must be turned, no matter the cost. The Purifiers would die before being enslaved.

But Clolarian also knew something must be terribly wrong. Only protoss could unseal the Cybros, and the situation must be terrible if the templar were willing to unleash the mechanical robots they feared so much.

As he gradually regained control, Clolarian tried to connect to the Purifier data web and was horrified to realize he was shut out. He could sense an entity cutting him off from his fellow Purifier brothers and sisters.

He didn't know what it was, and he would never have the chance to find out.

All the Warden marines and eradicators opened fire.

Clolarian groaned as metal rounds hit his armor. He was an experienced warrior, and normally he could slaughter these odd looking foes in just seconds, but neither his armor nor his weapon was online. He was put in stasis as a prisoner of war, and the shell he was in wasn't designed for combat.

Bullets pierced his shell. The legendary Purifier collapsed on the ground. Purifiers could transfer their conscious from one shell to another, but they needed to use the data web as a path. Without connection to the data web, Clolarian was stuck in this dying body.

"Who...who are you?" In his dying breath, the Purifier forced out a few words. He could see these units didn't belong to any protoss faction. Their technology wasn't even remotely close to the protoss ones. If he was to be killed, he would like to know who took him out.

He was answered by a hail of bullets.

The massacre continued on. When the smoke cleared, thousands of Purifiers personalities were cleansed. It was almost an industrialized process. Delta located the type one Purifiers. Jean deployed the Warden units and took the Purifiers out of the stasis chambers. Warden units did the execution. When one Purifier was killed, his body would be melted away and used to make type two Purifiers, and the entire process would happen again on another Purifier.

In the end of the day, all the Purifiers left on the ship were under Delta's command.

"Report." Jean turned to Delta and demanded. Thanks to the data web, the latter knew much more about the Purifiers than she did.

"The Cybros is armed with a Purification beam capable of purifying planets with a single shot. It holds a significant amount of stationary defenses, including photon cannons, interceptors, and a plasma shield only matched by motherships. According to data from the protoss civil war, the Cybros have taken down a Daelaam mothership with little damage."

"Cybros is also a massive manufacturing facility. It holds enough equipment to turn hundreds of thousands of units of minerals into an entire Purifier army in just days. From the basic legionnaires to the largest carriers, there is nothing that can't be produced. It can produce sentinels and instigators as well after we make some modification."

Jean nodded. She was glad she no longer needed to rely on mercenaries and allies to improve her forces. The days of conspiring and risking her life to gain the loyalty of a few dozen mercenaries was over. She no longer needed to worry about programming a couple Warden marines when she could create thousands of sentinels with a single order. This allowed her to fight a real war instead of simply carry out special missions and hit and run battles.

"How many forces to we have?"

"Insufficient. The Conclave kept the Purifiers alive, but they did their best to weaken them. All of the capital ships have been destroyed. Our air forces is made up of 800 mirages and 500 scouts."

Mirages were Purifier phoenixes. They were equipped with phasing armors that gave them the ability to phase out of existence when they chose to. It could save their lives. Their mechanical bodies and programmed AIs were also stronger than normal protoss pilots. In most cases, a mirage could take down a phoenix in a one on one dual.

1300 Purifier fighters sounded like a lot, and to a degree they were. In a certain situation, they were enough to take down the Hyperion, but the fighters lacked capital ship support. They had neither carrier nor tempest. In a real fight, they would have trouble dealing with enemy capital vessels.

Thankfully, the production lines for the capital ships were still in place. As long as Jean could get the resources in place, she could get herself a fleet in no time. Plus, the Cybros was also a powerful capital ship.

"Our ground forces?"

"220,000 legionnaires. 50,000 adepts. 8,000 conservators. 500 immortals. 50 colossus. 200 disruptors."

Now that was a lot. To put in perspective, Sixth Ascendant Nyon had tens of thousands of warriors, but in a fight to the death Jean's newly gained Purifier ground forces could easily overwhelm them. Legionnaires dwarfed zealots of any protoss faction with their improved shields, weapons, armors, speed, and even height. Adepts, with their shadow projectors, could do massive damage. Conservators could generate protective fields to, well, protect their comrades. Immortals had hardened shells and colossus could turn the ground below their enemies into scorching earth. Disruptors could literally rip hole after hole in the enemy lines, no matter how tightly packed they were. The Purifiers didn't have psionic units like high templar or cloaked units like dark templar, but they solved that problem with the firepower of their mechanical walkers.

This was an army that could stand against the Swarm in a full scale battle. The outcome might be disappointing, but then against most of the factions in the sector would flee at the name of the Queen of Blades.

Right now all Jean needed to do was find more resources. The more resource she had access to, the larger the Purifier army was going to be, and she definitely needed an army as large as possible, whether it was to defeat Amon or to satisfy the undying urge for power in the bottom of her heart.

But most of the planets with rich mineral storage in the sector were already occupied. Planets like Redstone were extremely rare. If Jean wanted more, she would need to take them from another faction.

Jean's mind turned, and she quickly identified the perfect target.


	68. Chapter 68

Moebius Foundation.

As of the moment, the Moebius Foundation was an influential research organization in the Terran Dominion. It had a strange obsession over ancient alien artifacts and had deep ties with a few powerful mercenary groups in the sector. In fact, it even had a tie with Raynor's Raiders. On the surface it was owned and funded by Valerian Mengsk, but in reality it worked for Emperor Arcturus Mengsk himself.

The emperor poured a large portion of the Dominion's treasury into the Foundation, hoping it would one day produce a living weapon capable of helping the Dominion to combat the protoss and the zerg threat.

Hybrids.

The emperor doesn't know it, but the head of Moebius Foundation who he trusted his credits to, Dr. Narud, wasn't who he seemed to be. Under the form of a respected doctor, Narud was actually a xel'naga in disguise, and he entered the material world to make preparations for his master's, Amon's, return.

But despite being a god among men, Narud kept his head low. He was a xel'naga, but his power was limited outside the void. When he first entered the material world, before the brood war, the three races, although maybe not the terran, were at the height of their power. If Narud simply announced his plan to destroy all life within the sector, it wouldn't take long before the protoss Conclave's Great Fleet descend upon him and blast him out of existence. Hell even the UED could destroy him.

Narud was slick. With impressive shape shifting ability and a brilliant tactical mind, he carefully navigated through the different factions inside the sector. He had many identities, including a lieutanent who joined the UED, a sergeant of the Queen of Blades, and now this identity as Dr. Narud of Moebius Foundation. With every turn he weakened the power of the three races. The weaker the three races become, the easier it would be for Amon to wipe the floor.

But as Doctor Narud, the xel'naga had another purpose. Just weakening the three races wasn't enough, and he needed to build an army for his master.

Using the resources of the Dominion, Narud built hybrids. Modeled after Amon himself, hybrids were the result of combination of protoss and zerg. They had a mixture of physical strength and endurance and psionic ability. A single one of them could wipe out a small army of any race.

This was the ultimate weapon, and Jean intended on weakening them as much as possible.

The Moebius Foundation had countless factories building hybrids, but thanks to the memory Jean was aware of the location of several of the major places of production. If she could take these factories out, she could minimize the amount of hybrids she would face in the field of battle in the future.

Of course, these factories must have held a large sum of resources, and Jean could use them to build her own army.

It would be hitting two bird with one stone.

Plus, when the End War came, the Moebius Foundation would use its influence and wealth to build up the Moebius Corps. Mercenaries Moebius hired were lured in by money and were corrupted by the hybrids. Armies and armies of elite terran combatants were turned from a potentially impactful force fighting for the survival of humanity to zealots willing to give their lives to make the world burn just to please their master. They weren't as powerful as the Golden Armada or the Death Fleet, but lead by hybrids and corrupted spectres and armed with the most advanced technology mankind has ever seen, the Moebius Corps was still a deadly force.

It would be three birds with one stone.

"Delta, prepare to jump to Skygeirr Station."

* * *

The Skygeirr Station was located in orbit of the planet Ketill IV. In the original history, Kerrigan would be introduced to this place by Admiral Stukov, a former UED general who was killed, infested, and captured by and experimented on by Narud in this very station. The admiral escaped and went to Kerrigan, providing her with all the information he needed to launch a siege on the station. The battle ended with Narud being sent back to the void and the station destroyed.

Jean intended on speeding up the station's destruction.

The Cybros jumped to the sector. Purifier observers were immediately deployed all around the platform. They were able to evade the Dominion fighters and orbital defenses and put the entire station under surveillance.

Intelligence was one of the most important factors in a battle, and Jean was lucky enough to have everything she needed to launch a frontal assault placed on her table.

The Skygeirr Station was guarded by three Dominion Fleets. Each contained fifteen battlecruisers. With the help of the station's orbital defenses, these three fleets could hold off most enemies.

But Jean wasn't most enemies. She held the might of the ancient protoss war machines. Perhaps it wasn't their full might, but it was menacing nonetheless.

In the past, when she was still with the Raiders or the mercenaries, Jean would attempt to infiltrate the station and somehow take the fleets down from the inside, but the time has changed. This time she was the one with the superior firepower, and she intended on using it.

As Jean's orders were passed to Delta, the Cybros gradually moved toward the space station. It was immediately spotted by patrolling Dominion fighters.

"Admiral Henry sir, a single protoss capital ship is spotted near the station. Its profile doesn't match anything we have on record."

Admiral Henry touched his masculine beard. "Protoss?" He didn't know who these protoss belonged to, but he knew they weren't here to congratulate them on their work. As the commander of the station's defenses, Henry knew what was going on inside. The Moebius lab nerds were breeding hybrids, and hybrids came from protoss and zerg specimen alike. One of his tasks was to send out special strike teams to kidnap protoss individuals from distant outposts.

If the Daelaam protoss and the Golden Armada knew about what they were doing here, they would stop at nothing to destroy this station and rescue the prisoners held within. There was no way three fleets could stop the Golden Armada. Even the entire Dominion Fleet couldn't say with confidence it was a match for the Daelaam.

But it was too preemptive to order a full evacuation now. Plus, he simply could've give up a battle station as important as this one without a fight. Henry turned to his men. "All fleets lifted off and be ready for battle. Establish a communication with the protoss vessel." Hopefully, this protoss ship was just taking a walk.

"Yes sir."

But as the forty five Dominion battlecruisers got into the air, one of the crew members at the desk delivered a depressing news to Henry.

"Sir, the protoss denied the communication request. Their ship was still approaching at full speed. ETA two minutes."

"Admiral, if we are to go to war with the protoss, we need to send out our fighters immediately. If we wait any longer, our fleet will be within projectile range of the protoss. Our fighters will be picked off one by one as they come out of the hangar." A lieutenant suggested.

Henry glanced at the image of the yellow protoss vessel through a computer screen. He didn't want to fight the protoss, but he wouldn't turn and run when provoked either. The Daelaam were trespassing in Dominion territory, and he would be acting in self defense. Without knowledge about the ancient Purifiers, Admiral Henry still thought the ship over there belonged to Hierarch Artanis' Daelaam faction.

He was afraid of the couple thousand ships of the Golden Armada. He wasn't nearly as intimidated by the strange looking lone vessel. If he was able to overpower this ship and call for reinforcement from the Dominion Fleet...

"Tell the captains to launch all fighters and engage the enemy. Take it out if you have to, but capture it if you can." Moebius scientists would be more than happy to have more protoss to experiment on.

In space, the battlecruisers started swinging out their fighters. Yamato Cannons were put online. They could open fire as soon as according coordinates were entered. All the gadgets were in place. The crew members were warming up, ready to go to war against the alien fleet for the glory of the Terran Dominion.

But Jean wasn't playing by the book.

A Purifier vessel came out of the Cybros and moved toward the terran ships. It stopped right out of terran firing range.

"Take it down." Henry ordered. He didn't know what that ship was for, but whatever the enemy wanted, he needed to deny.

One of the battlecruisers started charging up its cannon, but the Purifier was quicker. Its tip shined in a yellow light. Immense power was generated from within the central crystal and was used to alter the very definition of time in the designated area.

The Dominion Fleet, which was previously approaching at maximum speed, was suddenly slowed down. Its engine was still burning, but everything seemed to be put in slow motion.

While Purifier arbiters might not be as menacing as motherships, they were still sufficient to put a time stop on the entire Dominion Fleet. It was extremely energy consuming, but its contribution was worth the cost.

Inside the Cybros, Delta opened her mechanical eyes as she disconnected with the Purifier shell piloting the arbiter and returned to this body. "The Dominion Fleet is controlled. We should proceed with our next step."

Jean nodded. Delta closed her eyes and issued a series of further orders to her Purifier brothers and sisters.

All 800 mirages were deployed. They were faster than scouts and were better at taking down fighters. They were charging toward the 300 or so Dominion fighters that barely managed to get out of the area of effect of the time warp in time. Unfortunately, that wasn't a good thing for the Dominion.

Wraiths were detected by Purifier observers, which Jean has already deployed to the entire battlefield. Vikings tried their best to shoot down as many Purifiers as possible, but mirages were several times faster and more agile. Their phase armors also changed the equation.

One of the vikings locked on to one of the mirages and fired a pair of lanzer torpedoes. The next second the mirage suddenly accelerated with a speed that could break the neck of a human, or even protoss, pilot, but this wasn't even slightly problematic to the Purifier shell controlling the fighter. Using the time the acceleration bought, the mirage turned around and gunned the lanzer torpedoes out of the sky with its ion cannons.

"Damn it! This ain't fair!" The viking pilot complained before being smashed into by another mirage. The viking exploded, but the mirage enabled its phasing armor and continued its hunt without a scratch.

Inside a planetary fortress on the platform, Admiral Henry was ripping his precious beard off, but he was too distracted to realize it.

"What was that? Someone tell me what the hell just happened?" The admiral has seen many war. He has fought against protoss foes for countless times, but he has never seen something like this. How was he supposed to win a fight against someone who could disable his entire fleet in just seconds?

"Sir, it seems to be some sort of usage of the protoss khaydarin crystal. That ship over there drew energy from its crystal and, somehow, slowed the time in where our fleet is."

"How's that possible? Seriously, stopping time?" Henry asked, and realized the stupidity of his action when he saw the blank face on his men. "What can we do to bring our ships back? Our fighters are getting slaughtered out there."

Outside, in the time the short conversation occurred, the Dominion fighter count was decreasing exponentially. Extremely rarely would a mirage be destroyed, but the Dominion had dozens of times the casualties.

If Henry knew the mirages were simply war machines that could be mass produced by minerals alone and not a single real enemy was killed in the battle, he would be reacting much violently.

The officers looked at each other and no one wanted to deliver the bad news. Henry groaned, and finally a brave soul answered the question.

"Current terran technology can't disable this effect. I'm afraid...I'm afraid we need to wait until this effect disappears by itself." He saw the red eyes of the admiral and immediately continued. "It shouldn't take long. There's no way that ship by itself can hold enough energy to put an area as large as this into stasis for long. Whatever attack the protoss send toward the fleet will be slowed down as well. When the effect ends, our ships will be unharmed and will be enough to obliterate that protoss ship."

Henry stood there silently as he watched the last of the fighters get slaughtered.

"What is going on?" Suddenly, a woman in a lab suit walked into the command room.

"Dr. Amanda." Admiral Henry walked up. "The station is under attack, but don't worry, everything's under control."

Dr. Amanda was Dr. Narud's right hand woman. She was tasked with commanding the science research here in this station, but Henry didn't want to have much to do with her. The woman was a maniac. He has seen her spend hours dissecting a hydralisk without eating or resting. He has seen her somehow prevent the bodies of dead protoss from fading away and dissecting the remains. He has even seen her experiment with protoss nerve cords, attempting to add them to human beings. The bone-chilling screams of the human specimens, usually criminals that would otherwise be straight up executed, as they were experimented on shook even him.

"Under control?" Amanda smirked and glanced at the screen, where the satellite camera showed clouds and clouds of terran wreckage, but she wasn't looking at the wreckage. She was looking at the ones that put the wreckage there.

"These protoss...that's impossible. These protoss don't match anything in our database!" She turned to the Dominion Admiral. "Take them alive. I can learn a lot from them."

Henry coughed, choked by surprise. "I don't take orders from you." He replied coldly as he recovered. "Remember, I'm only here because…"

"Sir, scanners indicate the protoss trick should be over soon."

Henry turned back to the control panel, only to see the Cybros getting even closer to the Dominion Fleet. Its rod-like structure was facing where the Dominion Fleet was.

"Oh…" He suddenly realized something.

The time warp ended, and the Dominion Fleet was functional again. The Dominion personnel onboard didn't feel like something has happened, but a few crew members frowned at the unit status indicator, which showed all the fighters wiped out in what felt like seconds. The captains of the ships looked out the window, and their mouths were hung open when they saw the destroyed fighters and the yellow enemies.

What felt like a second for them was actually several minutes in the outer world.

But Jean didn't leave any time for the Dominion ships to contemplate what happened.

"Purification beam online. Deploying now." Delta ordered. Dozens of Purifier shells piloting the ship started pushing buttons, and two second later the destruction beam, already charged up beforehand, was unleashed onto the Dominion ships.

For a moment, a bright light covered the field. Even the terran satellites couldn't see what happened, but as the smoke cleared, the result was devastating.

Half the terran fleet was wiped out. Ships were melted. Men were slaughtered. A Dominion battlecruiser was on the edge of the beam, and half of its body was gone while the other half was floating aimlessly in space. Men unlucky enough to survive the initial contact were sucked out into the vacuum of space, where they would experience a creatively painful death.

Even if the Dominion ships did turn on their defensive matrixes, which they didn't, they wouldn't stand a chance against the purification beam of the Cybros.

Normally, equipped on motherships and, in this case, the Purifier flagship Cybros, the purification beam was used to destroy planets. A single strike could purify an entire planet and kill every living being on it. They weren't as ideal against enemy ships, but they were equally dangerous. In most cases, the enemies could either fight back and destroy the threat or simply escape, but Jean cutely used the time warp to keep the Dominion Fleet in place.

This was similar to the idea Jean gave to Nyon against the Daelaam defense fleet, but this time Jean was more straightforward.

Inside the command center, Amanda shut her mouth. Even an amateur like her understood the situation didn't allow her the luxury of making demands.


	69. Chapter 69

Despite all the mess, there was one thing was for sure. While having its flaws, the Dominion military included some of the bravest individuals in the sector. Even as half of their fleet was destroyed by a single strike from the enemy, the battlecruisers that survived held their ground. Captains screamed words of encouragement to their men through the ship-wide radios. Pilots that acted as reserves or didn't have the time to be sent out were shot out into space. Crew members ran around, assessing the damage and doing their best to get everything into battle status. Security forces checked their weapons one last time.

But it was no use.

Most of Jean's mirages and scouts were deployed. They swarmed on the lonely cruisers. A few Dominion fighters fought back, but they were immediately gunned down. Pilots screamed in the radio channel, only to be silenced instantly.

As the mirages took care of the Dominion fighters, the scouts had another target. In contrary to what their names suggested, scouts were in fact heavily armed fighters designed to take down armored vessels, such as battlecruisers. Their Purifier agility and reflexes allowed them to circle around the battlecruisers and pick off their intended targets one by one, whether they were laser batteries, Yamato Cannons, hangars, or the bridge. Strangely, they left the fusion cores and the warp drives untouched.

The captains immediately found out why.

Power fields were directly projected onto the inside of the battlecruisers by the Cybros. Most cases warp prisms were needed to produce these power fields, but capital ships such as motherships, arkships, and the Cybros were equipped to jump over that part.

Legions of legionnaires solidified in what was left of the terran fleets. Standing several meters tall, they charged at the terran security forces that gathered around them.

Jean wanted these terran ships for herself. Even if they were too damaged to be modified to Warden battlecruisers, they could still be scrapped down for minerals. Blasting them out of the sky made the cleaning up much more difficult.

"Take them down!" Inside the hangar of one of the ships where dozens of legionnaires were formed, a marine captain screamed an order. All around him, dozens of Dominion security forces were fighting back armies of legionnaires. Some of the legionnaires were still warping in while others were already done.

The captain focused his fire on one of the legionnaires already here, but his expression turned more and more desperate as all of his bullets simply bounced off the legionnaires' armor. The giant mechanical protoss ran toward him. Its yellow blades shined. It was just about to enter charge mode when a concussive shell hit it in the side and paused him, for the moment.

The marine turned around and found a dozen more marines and marauders reinforcing. He smiled slightly and returned to the legionnaire, only to realize the legionnaire has already recovered from the shell. The concussive shell could give a normal zealot headache and force him out of charge mode, but the legionnaire simply paused for half a second before resuming. Its metal body laughed upon the notion of concussions.

The marine took a step back, but it was too late. The last thing he saw was the swipe of a half a meter long yellow blade, and everything went dark.

After beheading that marine, the legionnaire jumped at the reinforcements. All the marines and marauders focused fire on that legionnaire alone. The firing was so intense that the legionnaire couldn't move forward for a single inch. Its Purifier class plasma shield generator was fried. Its head was blown off, then its limbs. But the legionnaire kept on struggling to move forward. It looked like it didn't know pain, because it didn't. It was only when a bullet found its way to the mechanical zealot's core crystal that the legionnaire finally fell.

The Dominion reinforcements took a breath of relief, only to realize they were the only terran left in the hangar. The endless waves of legionnaire have massacred all the other Dominion soldiers in the hanger, and they were now setting their eyes on them.

"Fall back...Fall back! It's coming at me! Ahhh!"

"For the...grrr!"

The legionnaire punched countless holes through the Dominion defenses. Marines? One cut and one body would become two. Marauders? A stab through the chest could do the job. Reapers? Charge into them and they will be defenseless. Goliaths? Survive a few rounds of firing and take down the legs, and the entire piece of mech would crumble over and become more defenseless than a lonely probe.

Of course, the Dominion got something as a consolation for their effort. At several ships, Dominion security forces were able to establish a line of defense. All sorts of automated turrets, along with several goliaths, landing vikings, and a group of biological forces, were enough to pause the unstoppable Purifier army for a brief moment.

"Send in the immortals." Delta, who has been not only overseeing but also living the battle, ordered.

One hundred striders solidified throughout the ships and entered the battle without a single word. Designed particularly to massacre armored targets, these immortals truly lived up to their name. When terran shells rained on them, their barriers protected them from harm. When the immortals opened fire, the terran bunkers and turrets were obliterated.

Through the Purifier data web, Delta saw a rather interesting interaction. A squad of marines threw everything they had at an immortal, but all it did was create several tiny ripples on the immortal's shield. In return, the immortal went down the squad, blasting them into barbequed meat one by one.

"All ships, fall back behind the guns of the staton! That's an order!" Henry screamed, but only two of the captains answered. Among those who didn't answer, some of them were completely quiet while the others, judging from the desperate gunshots and terrified screams, were going to go quiet soon.

But even those two battlecruisers failed to carry out their orders. One of the ships tried to activate the warp drive, and it was immediately detected by the observer web. Delta recalled all the units on the ship and ordered the scouts to deliver a killing blow. Dozens of antimatter missiles were sent into the fusion core of the battlecruiser. The resulting explosion tore the ship open and killed everyone aboard.

The other ship fell as well before the order could be completed. A squad of immortals blasted its fusion core to pieces before it could do a short range jump and were recalled before the explosion went off.

Henry's hands slowly hit the armrest of his seat.

It was over. Three fleets. Forty five battlecruisers. Tens of thousands of Dominion men and women were lost in just minutes. Men were still screaming for help inside the radio, but those voices were on a timer, and they were decreasing exponentially.

He has never felt so hopeless before. The loss of men was bad, but the defeat itself was worse. Even if he could somehow survive this, Mengsk wouldn't let someone who lost forty five ships to one to take any key position. In the best case scenario, he would live off the rest of his life as a retired general. In the worst case, he would be suicided.

"Sir, we haven't been beaten yet!" One of the officers saw the look on his commander's face and knew this was bad. If the commander lost his spirit, what could the men do? "We have sent out a request for reinforcement to the Dominion a while ago. This place is a fortress. If we can hold on until reinforcement arrive...if the worst comes and we can't hold the station, at least we can evacuate the important personnel and research information. There is still a way to make up for all this." He left one line out. If Mengsk knew Henry's lack of morale cost him all his research, the admiral's two options would become one.

Henry was woken up by those words, and he nodded gratefully at the officer before turning to his men.

"Take all research personnel to the last line of defense. Mobilize all forces according to the emergency protocol. I want every gun manned and every bunker filled. Bring all the orbital defenses online. If those aliens want to get a piece of us, they will need to go through hell to get it."

It turned out the good admiral overestimated his power and underestimated that of his enemy.

* * *

A couple minutes after the last battlecruiser went silent, the Cybros engaged the battle station. Orbital defenses opened fire. The orange battery blasts formed chains of ripples across the yellow barrier, with few results. Missile turrets emptied their load and tried to contribute to the situation as much as possible.

"Shields to maximum power. Project power fields immediately."

Hundreds of power fields were projected onto the station. Thousands of light beams came down from the sky. Purifier ground forces charged at the Dominion security forces that approached them.

Screams and cries for help covered the Dominion radio channel.

"Sir, area J7 has been lost! A battalion of marines have been wiped out! The protoss are flanking our forces!"

The Dominion command center did its best to, well, command. A hologram projector projected the battlefield in a 3D fashion so the commander could see the situation as vividly as possible. Officers made contact with individual squads of units and reported what they heard to Admiral Henry, who then issued orders that the officers then passed down. Unlike the Purifiers, with their tactical data web, the terran units needed to use the inefficient way of words to communicate. This made them naturally inferior in terms of chain of command.

Admiral Henry tapped several points. "Order all units at J6 and J8 to fall back to K6 and K8. Deploy the seventh reserve battalion to position K7. Hold the ground."

"Yes sir!"

Across the field, hundreds of man and women in red armor fell back. Yellow legionnaires charged after them, occasionally catching up to a few unfortunate victims with every charge and slicing them to pieces. Sometimes the victims wouldn't be killed immediately, and they would scream as their bodies were ripped apart but their minds were still conscious.

When the forces reached the second line, half the battalions was already gone.

Dozens of legionnaires tried to make a run for the second line, but they were faced with heavy resistance. Four siege tanks dropped shell after shell into the center mass of the group. Marines and marauders in reserves pulled their trigger like hell. Two automated flamethrower turrets popped up from the ground and set the legionnaires a flame.

A ghost fired a round of EMP into the middle of the legionnaires, slowing them down and weakening their shields.

Legionnaires were essentially AIs. They weren't the smartest soldiers. They were literally incapable of feeling fear. At first they tried to charge into the wall of terran, but after losing half a dozen legionnaires, Delta noticed the situation here. One of the benefits of being an AI was that she had the CPU to control multiple battlefields at once.

Under Delta's orders, the legionnaires backed off.

"Screw you! Alien scum!" One of the marines shouted. His eyes were red. He lost most of his squad at the hands of these protoss aliens. He saw his own brother being severed into two right in front of his eyes. He heard his screams, but there was nothing he could do.

The marine squad captain didn't stop that man. He was out of breath himself.

But Delta was literally a machine of war. She had the knowledge and tactics of Jean and the CPU to perform the calculation and control needed to maximize the power of the Purifiers in combat.

Within just half a minute, three mechanical orbs joined the legionnaires. Their form shined in explosive energy.

Two minutes later, positions K6, K7, and K8 almost simultaneously fell to the Purifiers. All the Dominion personnel on site were killed in action.

Not a single man fled. Their sacrifice took down six more legionnaires and wounded one of the disruptors.

The Purifiers pushed on, crushing everything and everyone in their way.


	70. Chapter 70

Dr. Amanda walked by a squad of fifty marines and four goliaths and entered a relatively distant hallway. There, she met up with over seventy men. All of them were elite units, judging from their weapons, armors, and even the way they moved. There were six ghosts among them.

Amanda was well aware of what the situation was. All across the board Dominion forces were pushed back. Armies were destroyed. Admiral Henry tried his best, but the protoss were simply too much. The sea of yellow overwhelmed the army of red. These protoss didn't care about casualties, and they charged forward ruthlessly.

As the battle went on, the landing parties grew more diverse than simple legionnaires. Adepts shaded into the field. Their glaive cannons, along with their psionic projections, cut Dominion marines into two from a short distance away. Sentries, or rather conservators, were warped in as well. Preservation fields were spread out and shielded the legionnaires from terran firing. Usually, a couple hundred bullets could take down a legionnaire. Now it took roughly a thousand. At places where the Dominion put up too much of a fight, a disruptor would moved forward, and after a loud bang, the defensive position would be no more.

Henry had no choice. As a high ranking Dominion officer, it was his duty to stand his ground. If he ordered a retreat and abandoned the battle station, Mengsk would not be happy. There was no doubt the admiral would be treated as a scapegoat. Most likely, he would be executed for either treason or something else.

Amanda was different. She was a Moebius research staff. Sure, she was in charge of the Moebius part of the station, but she wasn't a military commander. If she fled, she would likely be fine.

However, Amanda was still slightly worried. If she lost all the research on the station, Doctor Narud wouldn't be too glad. As the doctor's right hand woman, Amanda knew how much Narud cared about the hybrids, and this station was one of the major research sites.

She had a modified shuttle at the back of the station. It was armed with a defensive matrix, a modified engine, and a modified warp drive with its coordinates already entered. It could likely get by the protoss fleet with the element of surprise. After all, the yellow protoss ship were focused on ravaging through what was left of the orbital defenses of the battle station.

All she needed to do was transport the research to the shuttle. The data on the computers was something she could easily transport, but there were some experiments that were in the line of fire.

Something like this was obviously something she couldn't ask Henry for help. He was sacrificing the life of him and his men against an unstoppable hostile threat and she wanted his help to run away? Amanda wouldn't press her luck. As far as she knew the desperate admiral might shoot her in the head and make her an example of cowards who wanted to flee from their post.

Thankfully, as the head of Moebius Foundation on this battle station, she had her own armed forces. A battalion of mercenaries, nearly a thousand of them, was hired by the Moebius Foundation and placed under her direct command. A dozen Moebius ghosts, half of them mercenaries, were ready to do her bidding as well.

"Colonel." She turned to the commander of the mercenaries. "Put your men into eight groups and deploy them to these locations." She handed him a list of locations. "Move the projects there back to the shuttle. We rendezvous in twenty minutes. If you're not back by then, we will abandon you." She said coldly, knowing the mercenary wouldn't bat an eye. It was an everyday thing to say to these professional killers.

"Yes sir." The colonel nodded.

Mercenary marines and ghosts started moving. Amanda turned to the three dozen Moebius elite marines and the six Moebius ghosts. "Follow me."

One of the experiments was at a location that was, as for the moment, untouched by the invading protoss forces. Amanda could send a squad of mercenaries there, just like what she did to the experiments, but she suddenly remembered that Narud placed an extra amount of attention on that particular experiment. He has personally worked on the experiment for countless times. This made Amanda's head turn. If she could personally secure that piece of experiment and tell Dr. Narud what she did, she could likely get a promotion from this disastrous event.

Most of the times ambition was a good thing, but under this scenerio…

Amanda's plan was good, but she has never been a soldier, and she doesn't know the field of battle changes quicker than a traffic light. Just because she thought she would be going to a secured location didn't mean that location was actually secured.

Amanda and her squad of Moebius forces ran quickly down the halls. They went around another corner and saw a Dominion defensive position in front. Go around another corner and they would reach the holding cell of the experiment.

"Make way!" Amanda yelled as the Dominion forces. Behind her, the Moebius forces were differentiated from the Dominion ones only be the yellow stripes on their armor. Both factions had red armors.

Suddenly, behind the Dominion lines, twenty light beams came down from the sky, piercing the ceiling.

"Shit!" A marine closed to the light beams cursed. A ranged marine should never be right next to a zealot. In fact he hoped he was light years away from the closest zealot. Desperate, he turned around and fired his gun and backed off at the same time, but the bullets merely bounced off the legionnaire's plasma shield. The robotic warrior charged into the marine and jammed his psionic blades into the man's body. Immediately, half of the marine was melted by the two half-a-meter-long blades, each with two separate layers.

"Open fire...ah!" The Dominion captain shouted desperately, but his orders were immediately cut off by a scream as the legionnaires overwhelmed the defensive position in just seconds. Marines and marauders in the open barely survived the first round of charge. Bunkers kept the units inside alive longer, but they were quickly toppled over and the units inside were dragged out and slaughtered.

The Moebius forces were just twenty steps away, but they were too late. The Dominion forces were gone before they could blink.

"What the…" Amanda's mouth hung wide open. She has seen what protoss units were capable of doing on documents and reports, but she was fairly certainly even if a group of marines in bunkers couldn't kill twenty Daelaam zealots, they could hold their ground for a while. They shouldn't be dead in just seconds.

"Sir?" One of the Moebius ghosts demanded. There wasn't time to be amazed or shocked. Already the legionnaires were turning their eyes on them. They need to make their mind of whether they should moved forward or fall back.

Amanda bit her lips. All of a sudden, her mind went back to her days as a lower leveled secretary of one of the Moebius ranking officers. She was still a naive little girl at that time. Her parents passed away in a zerg attack, leaving her by herself. She joined Moebius because she wanted to fight for humanity. She wanted to make sure what happened to her wouldn't happen again. No human should ever suffer a the hand of alien filth.

But reality gave her a blow to the head. One day, the reputable, honorable official she worked for called her into his office and told her to strip down. At first, she said no, but the man told her if she refused, he would announce that she was suspicious for being a spy for the Kel-Morian. The Moebius Foundation was a key research organization for the Terran Dominion. Dominion units patrol the facilities and Dominion intelligence officers investigate the background of Moebius employees. The man didn't have any proof that she was a spy, but she knew the Dominion wouldn't take the risk in exchange for a random, useless woman. She would either be suicided or be accidented. As far as the Dominion was concerned, she could be replaced, and there was no need to take the extra risk. This was the way of the Dominion. Cruel yet efficient.

So Amanda submitted. She stripped down and allowed the man to climb onto her and do whatever he wished. She could feel tears streaming down her face.

Ever since then, the innocent girl was gone, and Amanda used everything she had to rise in the Moebius chain of command. She realized grand words and the concept of honor didn't matter in real life. The only thing that mattered was power. Whoever holds absolute power is righteous.

A few days after the rape happened, she sneaked onto the man's bed once again. Only this time, she was as his mistress, and she did it voluntarily.

For several years, Amanda played the part of a loyal servant of that man. Of course, that was until one day Amanda went directly to Narud and handed him the evidence suggesting that the Moebius official was an agent of the Umojan Protectorate and a traitor to the Dominion.

The result was brutal. That man was arrested, tortured, and executed. In reward for her loyalty and because she has shown quite the talent, Amanda was given the position of the commander of a distant research post. She was given command over thousands of people. Essentially, she was turned from nobody to somebody who led an army of nobodies.

This opened up the way for further advancement. Eventually, Amanda found herself in command of the Skygeirr Station, one of Narud's top secret sites.

But she never forgot how she got there. If she didn't do what had to be done, if she didn't take some risk, she would likely be dead by now.

And here, once again, she must do what has to be done. If she fled, she might lose all the power she suffered so much to gain, and she couldn't allow that. She couldn't even think about the feeling of losing control of her life.

"Advance." She whispered, quietly but steadily. "Move forward. Take out the protoss at all cost."

"Go go go!" The Moebius troopers acted. A ghost fired a around of EMP at the legionnaires and knocked one third of them off their feet. Marines and marauders opened fire. Their modified rifles did much more damage than the rifles of the normal Dominion marines.

A legionnaire charged at a ghost. The ghost took a deep breath, calmed himself, and aimed his sniper rifle at the zealot's head. He has been on several missions before that involved hunting protoss and bringing them back for experimentation, and he was aware these aliens had a similar weakness to the terran. One shot to their head and they would be gone beyond salvation. Even their emergency warping systems couldn't save them in time.

He pulled the trigger, and the legionnaire's head exploded.

The ghost smirked a second before seeing the legionnaire kept charging. The ghost was caught by surprise, and when he realized the legionnaire was still alive it was already too late. The legionnaire's psionic blades cut across his body and slashed him into two. Being a ghost didn't mean invincible. Cut in half and he would still die.

"Chris!" Another ghost groaned. She has fought side by side with the dead ghost for years and the sudden death shocked her, but the neural inhibitor in her brain immediately crushed that emotion. She was quickly returned to the cold, efficient ghost operative. "Hostile units don't share protoss weakness. Don't go for snipes. Aim for their limbs and disable them."

Bullets continued to fly, but the terran was gaining an upper hand. EMPs were shot out like they were free, and these EMPs did massive damage to the robotic zealots, not only clearing their shields but also weakening their circuits and making them much more vulnerable. Gauss bullets chased after the weakened legionnaires, taking them out one by one.

Finally, all the legionnaires were either dead or too maimed to keep on fighting. Half the marines and two of the six ghosts were in pieces.

"Move!" Amanda yelled. She has seen the protoss' ability to deploy their units to practically anywhere on the station. It wouldn't take long before they could realize what happened here and send reinforcements. This time it would be much more than a dozen or so legionnaires. In fact, even if it was just a dozen legionnaires, Amanda's team would be too damaged to fight them off.

Delta had the Purifier data web and incredible calculation capabilities, but at the moment her attention was occupied by a major conflict between dozens of immortals and nearly a thousand legionnaire and Admiral Henry's personal guards. One of the purifier armies has reached the Dominion command center, and the Dominion mobilized everything they had in an attempt to hold their ground.

The overall situation was good for the Purifiers, but it wasn't an impossible thing for a squad of twenty legionnaires to fall. Losses came in front all across the station. What happened here wasn't an instant attention getter for Delta.

This meant Amanda was able to reach the piece of experiment Narud cared about so much.

The woman walked to in front of the cell. Inside the cell was a certain infested terran.


	71. Chapter 71

"I will kill every last one of you…" The infested terran, surprisingly, spoke. His tentacled around moved in anger. Most infested terran lost the ability to speak, or even to think, when they were infested, but this one wasn't just any infested terran.

After all, he wasn't exactly from around here.

Normally Amanda would troll the monster around just because she could, but she had neither the time nor mood for this. She pressed a button, and a wave of electricity ran through the infested's body and knocked him out. The cell door opened, and several marines walked in carefully. Their weapons were raised. The four ghosts that were still alive trained their guns at the knocked out infested as well. A normal infested terran was nothing. A single marine could kill it. But, once again, this infested wasn't normal. He has been experimented on so many times that he was turned from a cannon fodder of the lowest rank to someone with a psionic power even ghosts feared.

Thankfully for the marines, the infested was truly down. The marines put him onto a small cart and tied all four of his limbs up. After that was done, they finally escorted him out of the cell.

"Take him back." Amanda looked at her watch. It has already been fifteen minutes. "We need to move now. Double time!"

The route back to the shuttle went smoothly, but Amanda wasn't too satisfied when she walked into the shuttle and found the place mostly empty apart from a couple pilots. The mercenaries were nowhere to be seen.

"Sir!" A Moebius marine said loudly. Fear was in his voice. "Sir, we have lost contact with the central command. I took the liberty to contact a couple friends. They lost contact with command as well."

Amanda gulped. She didn't know what exactly happened, but she had somewhat of a guess.

She was correct. On the other side, twenty immortals blasted open the last layer of door of the command center. Twenty legionnaires charged in. The sound of gunshots and screams went on for half a minute before completely dying down. Eighteen legionnaires walked out with blood on their shells.

With Admiral Henry dead and the Dominion defenses leaderless and collapsing, Jean ordered a full scale assault. Purifier units were warped in all around the battle station, ripping the disorganized terran forces to pieces.

"Sir, we need to lift off immediately!" The pilot of the shuttle said in a hurry as she saw a couple legionnaires appearing at the other end of the hangar. A squad of marines fired desperately, but they couldn't even delay the inevitable.

Amanda groaned. Leaving now meant abandoning all the Moebius mercenaries and most of the research data, but if she stayed she would merely be adding herself to the list of losses. The protoss were simply unstoppable. The most she could do now was cut the losses.

"Lift off."

"Yes sir."

The door of the shuttle was sealed shut. A couple marines and marauders still firing in the hangar turned around in shock and called for the pilot to open the door and let them in, but the legionnaires were already on top of them. Cries for help were turned to desperate curses, which were then turned to dying screams.

Amanda didn't bat an eye. She was too busy thinking about how she could explain what happened to Narud and maintain her position. After having a taste of power, there was no way she could go back to being nobody.

The shuttle's cloaking field was turned on as it exited the hangar of the battle station. Specially designed for situations like this, the shuttle was the product of countless credits. Amanda had no doubt this ship could bring her to safety. Even basic detectors, like missile turrets and orbital scans, couldn't locate it. Only the most advanced ravens and science vessels could catch its scent

But this time she was disappointed. The moment the shuttle left the Skygeirr Station, the net of observers has already scouted the shuttle.

Delta knew about it in just seconds.

The normal thing to do was to deploy a few fighters and gun it out of the sky, but Delta was careful. She connected to the observer closest to the shuttle for just a second and immediately recognized the fleeing ship wasn't just any Dominion transport. Something as sophisticated as this escaping shuttle must be carrying something, or someone, important.

She passed down a silent order, and the arbiter that put the entire Dominion fleet in stasis started glowing. Suddenly, it disappeared into warp space.

"What happened?" Jean saw Delta's action.

"I noticed a potentially valuable hostile vessel. Type two AIs can't distinguish valuable targets from invaluable ones. I need to board the ship myself."

"Understood." Jean didn't tell Delta to be careful or anything like she would to Viper. The Purifier war machine nodded as she was projected up into a beam of light.

"Get us out of here." Inside the shuttle, Amanda ordered.

"Yes sir...wait a sec...what the…" Suddenly, a yellow protoss ship appeared right behind the shuttle. Its warpspace cannon fired a single shot, which accurately pierced the rear plating of the shuttle and landed on the warp drive. While the arbiter's weapon wasn't as deadly as the scouts' antimatter torpedoes or the mirages' ion cannons, it was much better for situations like this when they needed to disable the enemy vessel, not blast it to a million pieces.

An explosion told the passengers of the shuttle they won't be going anywhere for a while.

"report on the damage…" Amanda said slowly, hoping for a miracle but knowing she was doomed.

"Sir, the warp drive is completely down."

"Sir, the protoss are boarding our ship!" A crew member cried.

"How many?"

"One."

"One?" Amanda rose her eyebrows before coming to a false realization. "These aliens are toying with us." The shuttle still held dozens of elite marines and marauders. It even had four ghosts. It would take much more than a single protoss to take it down from the inside.

At this point the terran on the ship were doomed. They knew they were going to die, but after overcoming the initial fear, they realized the best, and only, thing they could do was bring down as many protoss to hell with them as possible.

Marines and marauders immediately converged toward the location the pilot sent them. Crew members desperately turned the guns of the shuttle toward the arbiter, hoping it could be their last hail mary. They were disappointed as the guns only created several insignificant ripples on the arbiter's plasma shield.

As the crew members worked, no one saw the prisoner they kept inside the bridge, the infested terran, opening his eyes…

* * *

Dozens of elite troopers arrived at where the protoss light beam landed on. There, Delta was ready.

"Take it out! For mankind!" A marine cried as his gun sang. While Delta, with the look of a figure in full body armor, didn't exactly match the image of a protoss zealot, it didn't matter. They saw her emerge from the warp beam and she was definitely a foe.

A storm of bullets hit Delta's plasma shield. They didn't do much, and Delta had no intention of finding out how much her plasma shield could handle. Without even bending her knees, the mechanical parts on her legs propelled her into the air. Her body still in the air, she pointed her arms at two of the marines.

At first the marines frowned. That frown was turned to ultimate fear as the arms twisted and turned, and the human like limbs were replaced by two miniaturized particle disruptors.

Compared to the particle disruptors of stalkers, Delta's ones were much smaller, but they were modified so they barely lost any firepower. Following two somewhat pleasing sound, both marines collapsed with large holes in their chest, almost ripping them into two.

As the marines and marauders raised their weapons, Delta has already landed in the middle of the terran crowd. A marauder, probably on drugs, charged toward her. Delta didn't know what that man wanted to do against a race whose entire population was made up of expert swordsman in melee combat, and she didn't care. Her right arm turned again, and the hand replaced the particle disruptors. A handle appeared in her arm.

She pressed a button, and a yellow plasma blade extended from the handle. Delta swung it. It cut through the marauder's armor like it was hot butter.

A marine smacked his combat shield on Delta. She had her plasma shield intact, but Delta still actively reacted. She literally pressed her left arm on the layer of metal and pulled the trigger to the particle disruptor. The resulting projectile penetrated both the combat shield and the marine.

Suddenly, a psionic powered round hit her in the plasma shield. It was a snipe from a ghost. Delta didn't see it coming, but thankfully her plasma shield was automatically activated.

The ghost reloaded her gun and took aim again, but she never had the opportunity to fire. Without any hint, Delta tossed her plasma blade out. The weapon, powered by Delta's mechanical strength, cut across three marines before severing the ghost in half.

The terran fought bravely, but they simply weren't enough. Delta mowed them down like they were sheep. As she beheaded another marauder, she found herself standing in front of one last marine.

Instead of blindly firing, the marine dropped his weapon. His helmet popped open, revealing a young face.

"Please…" The man knelt down and begged. "I surrender...ah!"

Delta lowered her particle disruptor and started walking toward the bridge.

* * *

Inside the bridge, Amanda gulped as the radio went dead silent. She realized how naive she was to think they could take the protoss to hell with them. If she came alone, she must be confident she could win.

The blast door was already sealed, but that merely delayed the inevitable.

Suddenly, one of the crew members coughed. At first Amanda didn't think anything. They were about to die. Who cared about catching a cold? She realized something was off when she heard the man collapse.

A crew member close to the man that collapsed walked up to him and knelt down. Suddenly, he screamed in pain. A claw went through his chest and ripped his heart out.

Amanda watched in horror as the fallen crew member rise again. Only this time, he was no longer a terran.

He was a zerg.

"He's infested!" Amanda screamed, but most of the armed forces inside the shuttle were dead at the hand of Delta.

One of the few marines that remained inside the bridge raised his weapon, but before he could pull the trigger, a round of green bio hit him in the side of his armor. Almost immediately, the armor hissed and started falling apart. The man's eyes widened as he realized what happened, but it was too late. The corrosive bolt has already melted through his armor and was working on his flesh.

The man screamed as the smell of barbeque filled the bridge.

Amanda turned around and saw that the infested prisoner they were holding in the cell has already broken free. He must've somehow infested that crew member, and then he used the infested terran as a distraction to make his own escape. Amanda didn't know how he got out exactly, but she guessed it no longer mattered.

"I told you I'll kill you."The infested terran, Admiral Alexi Stukov, hissed. His voice resonated from the psionic presence in his voice. "But I have something far better in mind. Death is bad. Infestation is worse."

Two of the last marines desperately drew their weapon, and Stukov snapped his finger, and two corrosive bolts hit the marines and melted them as well. They never had a chance to fire, but even if they didn't it wouldn't matter. According to Amanda's research, Stukov could kill at least dozens of fully armed marines in a frontal assault. It took much more than two gauss rifles to stop him.

Plus, so what if she could stop him? Amanda turned around and saw two plasma blades cutting through the blast door.

The woman signed. She was determined, but she was also desperate. There was simply nothing a woman like her could do.

Seeing the fear in Amanda's eyes, Stukov waves his hand, and all the crew members, except for Amanda, collapsed and choked. Half a minute later, all of them rose again as zerg. Tentacles and carapace covered their bodies.

Stukov was reaching out to Amanda when the blast door was cut open, and Delta walked inside.


	72. Chapter 72

Delta walked into the bridge and, seeing the situation, fired a single shot at Stukov, forcing him to retreat from killing Amanda. The infested backed off. He would enjoy seeing his tormentor scream, but he had something much more important to do right now.

"Before you strike me down, I pray that you listen to me." Stukov said quickly.

Despite disposing of all the terran inside the bridge with absolute ease, Stukov was well aware of the situation, and it took much more than a group of infested terran to take this lone protoss out. His power wouldn't really work on her either as protoss couldn't be infested. His corrosive bolt was dangerous, but he didn't forget he was facing someone who slaughtered dozens of elite soldiers in less than two minutes.

Stukov wasn't afraid of death, but he had something else to do before he could do. When he was literally dissected alive and pieced back together, he swore he would kill Narud one day, and he was a man of his word.

But Stukov knew who Narud truly was, and he knew he needed help to have his vengeance. He was still conscious when he was transported, and from what he heard and saw, these protoss were not only hostile against the Moebius Foundation but also had the firepower to fuel this hostility.

Plus, what could be worse? Rather than dying pointlessly at the blades of these odd looking protoss, he might as well give it a try.

If it was a Daelaam or even a Nerazim templar, Stukov would be dead in just seconds. The proud Daelaam templar would never hear the words of a zerg. Even Artanis, who might be the most open minded protoss in the Daelaam civilization, only joined forces with the Queen of Blades after he realized he was facing an impossible enemy and he needed all the allies he could find to save his people. In a scenario like this, even Artanis would behead Stukov in one swift strike.

But Delta was different. After all, she had the same soul as Jean Turner. Prejudice meant nothing to her. She slightly lowered the particle disruptors. "Speak." Her voice was cold and mechanical.

Stukov quickly gave Delta a short briefing about who Narud truly was and how he served a dark god called Amon. Delta already knew everything, but she patiently waited for Stukov to finish. Finally, Stukov offered to serve her in exchange for her going to war against Narud and Amon. It was the same deal he offered to the Queen of Blades in the would be future. After a brief moment of silence, Jean finally spoke.

"Assuming all you said is true and there is, indeed, a dark god who wants to destroy the sector, what value do you have to me? You have no ship. You have no army. All you have is a couple twisted terran, and they are nothing compared to the overall situation. Why should I sacrifice my own forces to help you."

"I can give you information about Narud. From what I saw, you are not his friend. My information will help you."

"That's not enough."

"I can join you against your enemy. Any enemy."

"Once again, you are just one man." Delta bargained. "You are nothing in a clash between countless fleets."

"That's where you are wrong. I am not alone." Stukov turned to the infested terran, who were standing behind him obediently. Their eyes shined thirst for blood. "I have the ability to infest terran, living or dead, and make them my combatants. I can even infest terran weapons and make them exhibit both terran and zerg abilities. How many Dominion personnel were on that station down there? Tens of thousands. I can turn them to tens of thousands of my warriors."

Delta glanced at the infested terran. "Your warriors are weak. A single one of my warriors can slaughter dozens of them, and I have legions under my command." As Stukov's expression changed, Delta suddenly nodded. "Then again, it can never hurt to have more units." She held her hand out. "It's the tradition of your people to shake hands to seal a deal." She played the part of a protoss commander.

Stukov looked at Delta's armored hand for a second before shaking it.

* * *

The battle of Skygeirr has came to an end. The terran had nowhere to hide from the Purifier detectors. Legionnaires moved in squads of tens and systematically executed the terran survivors.

When Delta and Stukov returned to the station, the last bunker has already fallen apart and the Dominion security network was completely silenced.

Jean led Stukov to a field of bodies and motioned for him to act.

Stukov nodded and held his hand out. Condensed zerg virus converged at his grip and was passed onto the bodies. The bodies were lifeless, but as soon as the virus touched the bodies, they started changing that fact. Genes were rewritten, changing the cells from terran to zerg. The zerg characteristic helped the wounds merged. Brains were reactivated, only this time they were completely different than what they were just minutes ago. This time, they were zerg.

Twenty or so figures stood up. Almost all of them were infested marines or infested marauders. Their weapons were contaminated by the virus as well. They were already deadly, but now the victims of these weapons needed to deal with a deadly virus that could literally decompose their flesh.

As soon as these infested units were up, they turned to the Purifiers in hostility. Their primitive infested brains had trouble understanding that those that weren't zerg could be friends. A dozen legionnaires drew their blades, but Stukov stopped the bloodshed as he strengthened the control he had on the infested and forced them back. The underlings yielded and complied.

Stukov waved his hand, and the infested units started walking to all around the battle station, passing the virus to the bodies as they moved. As time passed, the number of infested grew exponentially.

Delta watched as the infested acted.

The entire time, inside the Cybros, Jean was observing the situation. She had a secret communicative channel with Delta that allowed the two to exchange thoughts.

Jean was doing her best to strength her forces. As of the moment, she has already had a near perfect war machine. The Purifiers transferred minerals and vespene gas into Purifier units. She has already dispatched a squad of Purifiers to collect the intact pieces of terran mech which she would soon use Warden SCVs to turn into Warden units. However, as of the moment there was nothing she could do about the dead bodies on the ground. She couldn't use them or turn them into her forces.

Stukov's presence changed that. He offered a way for Jean to turn the dead into a part of her power. From what she knew from memory, Stukov's infested army, while relatively weak in quality, had overwhelming numbers. Plus, their combination of terran and zerg technology made them fatal to most enemies.

Stukov was important to her, but Jean needed to make Stukov feel like he was just a nice addition rather than a relatively crucial component. Otherwise, he might try to be an ally instead of an underling or a supplicant. He would try to bargain with her for more influence, and she couldn't allow that. That was just inefficient for her.

"So, can you tell me who you really are?" As his men worked, Stukov turned back to Delta.

"You can call me Delta."

"What faction do you belong to? Daelaam? Nerazim?" Stukov has heard about some information about the protoss factions during his time as a prisoner. He was placed in a top security cell, but he was a powerful psionic user as well. "I can see that you don't have a nerve cord." He glanced at the back of Delta's armor covered head.

"I am the master of myself." Delta replied concisely. She glanced around. "We should have this conversation somewhere else. Follow me. Plus, I want to show you someone."

Delta walked toward one of the wings of the battle station. Stukov followed her closely. A trail of legionnaire guards followed the two from behind.

Finally, the two reached an opening where an arm of the Cybros was connected to the battle station. Delta glanced at Stukov and walked aboard the Cybros. She could be warped onto the ship directly, but she chose a slower way on purpose. Stukov frowned, realizing Delta was testing to see if he was willing to trust her. If she had something wicked in mind, he would be trapped with no way out.

He walked aboard the Cybros without any hesitation. He was hell bent on getting Narud, and he was willing to ignore whatever risk that might be present. After all, what could be worse than infestation?

The two walked into the bridge of the ship. Dozens of protoss figures were operating different control panels inside the command room. Stukov glanced at them and realized they didn't show an inch of their skin. In fact, as he reached his psionic energy out toward these protoss, he realized they didn't emit any psionic signature.

It was almost as if they were machines.

Stukov was curious, but he quickly tossed this curiosity behind. Machine or not, these protoss were his best chance to his revenge, and he wouldn't want to lose this chance because he wanted to learn things he shouldn't know.

Delta sat down at the seat in the center. Stukov stood in front of her. He was wondering who this protoss female wanted to show him when he keenly noticed fifteen terran battlecruisers jumping in next to the Cybros through the window.

"Wow…" Stukov was briefly taken by surprise. For a moment he thought this was a hostile enemy fleet, Moebius or Dominion, that answered to the cry for help from the now conquered battle station, but the motionless protoss beside him told him everything was under control. "What the…"

"You are not my first ally." Delta put up an act. "I have established an alliance with someone else. A terran."

The battlecruisers stopped a safe distance away from the Purifier fleet. A dropship came out of the hanger of one of the battlecruisers and flew toward the Cybros. A couple minutes later, a terran in a CMC armor walked into the bridge.

"If you do anything to her I'll have your head." Delta threatened the infested terran.

Stukov nodded.

Jean walked in. She seemed to be taken back a bit by Stukov, but Delta quickly explained the situation to her. Finally, Jean sat back down, but she kept the inner face mask of her helmet shut.

Jean and Delta were putting up this act for a reason. What she did with the Purifiers was something countless have tried but none have succeeded. A normal person would brag about it and show the world how badass it, but Jean was logical, and she was aware that the more secrets she hold and the more misconceptions she create about herself, the safer she would be. Likely, it wouldn't matter, but why take the chances?

Plus, if Stukov thinks the relationship between Jean and Delta was pure for the sake of interest, then if he wants to backstab someone, he might contact the other person.

As everyone knew who everyone else was, the three finally started their tactical meeting.

"What is our next objective?" Jean opened up.

"Narud." Stukov said with hatred in his eyes.

"Doctor Emil Narud is protected by the best of the Terran Dominion. We don't have the forces to take down even a portion the Dominion Fleet. The Cybros has a large amount firepower, but it's not enough. We need more forces." Delta didn't hesitate to rain on his parade.

"I have a plan." Jean suddenly spoke up. "Admiral, what do you know about the Umojan Protectorate?"

"A terran government created by one of the prison ships from Earth that first arrived into the sector. The Umojans hold advanced technology, but their resource and manpower are limited. They are inferior to the Terran Dominion and even the former Terran Confederacy." During his times as the commander of the United Earth Directorate invasion fleet, Admiral Stukov has heard reports about all the different factions inside the sector. The Umojan Protectorate was one of them. Ironically, the UED fleet never had the chance to fight the Umojans. The Umokans never actively fought the UED and the fleet was wiped out by the zerg before they could go around the sector and wipe the floor. Now, as a zerg, Stukov once again faced the Umojans.

"Correct. The Umojans have superior technology. According to my information, most of the Umojan units are stronger than their Dominion counterparts. Of course, that is not including the Dominion Special Forces." She rubbed her fingers together. "If we can take over the Umojan Protectorate and use their technology to advance my forces…our overall power can be amplified"

"You are a fool, girl." Stukov suddenly turned really angry. All this sitting here and talking while his enemy walked free burned his mind. "If the Umojans are so easily turned, they would be long dead already. Do you think the Dominion or the Kel-Morians have never thought about using them submit? All of them have tried, and all of them have failed. The Umojans are united. Their fleet is small but advanced. Their soldiers are willing to die for their cause. It will take much more than a protoss ship and a single fleet of battlecruisers to win the fight against them."

"Only I wouldn't be fighting the Umojans." Jean suddenly smiled warmly. "No. Instead, I will be fighting on the behalf of the Umojans. I will be protecting them from an alien threat."

"...and what might that be?" Stukov already knew the answer.

"I will be protecting them from a wave of zerg infestation."

Stukov's yellow eyes went wide open. "Are you saying…"

"I want you to attack the Umojans and infest a couple planets, and then I will step in and save the day."

Stukov started thinking. This young terran commander wanted to play the thief and the cop. If he was still the terran commander when he first arrived into the Koprulu Sector, he would frown about the wicked idea, but things have changed. He, the loyal, honest commander who only wanted the best for mankind, was shot in the back and turned to this monster. He was a good man, and he went through enough pain to break most people. Now he was no longer as stubborn. He recognized if he wanted to get his vengeance, he needed to use tricks.

"What happens when the Umojan fleet steps in? My infested can't challenge entire fleets." Perhaps millions of infested could eventually overwhelm a ground army, but could infested gauss rifles really shoot down several kilometers long capital ships?

"I will deal with them." Jean promised. "If you do this for me, then it will be good for both of us. I will gain forces, and I will use this force to help you get your revenge."

"How are you dealing with the fleet? You don't have the ships."

"You leave that to me." Jean turned to Delta. "However, you will need to attend to something else with your forces. I'll talk to you about it later." She was avoiding Stukov, and everyone knew it.

"I will go prepare my forces. Lend me a transport." Stukov saw that as well, and he cleverly backed off. Jean nodded and passed down an order through her earpiece, and Stukov left the room.


	73. Chapter 73

With the room now private to themselves, Jean and Delta were free to speak. They no longer needed to bother with politeness or art of the words. They could be as efficient as possible.

"What is it?" Delta asked. She and Jean had the same conscious and mostly the same memories, but they had no way of communicating with each other through some sort of web or net. Jean refused to connect herself with the Purifier data web because systems could potentially be hacked. Maybe it was safe now, in this universe, but something like this would leave flaws that could hardly be removed. Jean could risk losing Delta and the Purifier legions to a hacker in the future because she could always put them into her watch and shield them from any outside effect. She didn't want to make herself vulnerable as well.

That was why the two had to communicate with words, which was relatively ineffective.

"Nyon contacted me. He has established an alliance with Alarak and Ji'nara, but he is growing restless. He wants to advance in his society."

"He doesn't have enough forces. His ruthlessness will get him killed. He is too valuable to lose."

"We can turn this situation around." Jean replied coldly. Her face was blank. "Bring the Cybros with you and contact Nyon. Find a way to take down his enemies. We need him to rise to the rank of Highlord when Amon returns. Do it quietly. The Tal'darim will never accept someone who allied with the enemy to be the Highlord, especially when that person doesn't have absolute control over his people." In the original history, Alarak used Artanis' Daelaam forces and took down Ma'lash, but he only got away with it because he was the highest ranking Tal'darim alive. If Nyon did that, then Ma'lash and Nuroka wouldn't hesitate to take him down in the name of heresy.

"Affirmative. I am also sending out individual warp prisms with probes in them. They will locate resource rich, undiscovered planets and warp in bases there. These mining planets will produce a substantial amount of income."

"Turn the resources to Warden and Purifier units at a rate that you see fit." Jean added.

"What is the situation of the battle station?"

"I checked out the research data in the Dominion system. It appears like the Moebius are still relatively incomplete in terms of their hybrid research. A couple specimens have been created, but they are feral. They have been contained and stored aboard the Cybros."

Delta went through the memory she received from Jean. "That's odd. Zeratul should have met and fought hybrids when he looked for the preservers of Zhakul, which is around now. The hybrid technology should be fully developed already."

"It is possible that Narud hasn't shown his full research to Mengsk. The Skygeirr Station is a Dominion facility. Narud wants Mengsk to give him funding, but if Mengsk thinks the research is done, he might stop that funding. Plus, if the research is done, Mengsk will no longer need Narud. He will likely be terminated to keep the hybrids a secret."

"Reasonable. Anything else?"

"We have acquired a substantial number of resources from this battle. 12 battlecruisers are relatively intact. I will modify them to Warden units. I have gained control to the Skygeirr battle station itself. I will warp it away and use it as a staging point. The rest of the ships and wreckages will be scrapped down for minerals. Calculate how long it will take."

Delta's mechanical mind turned. "At least three days."

"Then we will stay here for three days. When all the modifications are complete, you take the Purifiers and half the minerals and go to Slayn. I take the Wardens and the rest of the minerals and Stokov and go to Umoja. Maintain contact."

"Affirmative." Delta remembered something. "I captured the Moebius director here. A woman by the name of Amanda. What should we do with her?"

"I have an idea…"

* * *

Three days went by. When Jean was busy amplifying her power, the rest of the sector fell deeper into chaos.

The Queen of Blades suddenly launched a large scale assault on Dominion territories. The Dominion fleet was powerful, but they were scattered and positioned to defend the Dominion against multiple threats. This made them vulnerable to the concentrated strikes of the Swarm. Fleet after fleet was taken by surprise, surrounded, and destroyed. The Swarm adopted a lightning warfare tactic as it cut into the Dominion territory, destroying and infesting everything in its way.

Someone passionate, like Raynor or Valerian Mengsk, would try to assemble all the ships and meet the Swarm head on, but not Arcturus Mengsk. The Emperor smirked upon the idea of giving up his loyal forces to protect the common people. He pulled all his fleet to the core worlds, a series of planets that held the majority of the industries and resources of the Dominion. As for the outer planets, mining and agricultural planets like Agria, well, maybe the zerg would happen to miss them?

Unfortunately, not all the planets were expendable. The planet where the Moebius HQ was on, Tyrador VIII, for example, was one of such planets. Strangely, whether on purpose or by accident, Mengsk pulled the five fleets positioned around that planet back as well. Why he did that was anyone's guess, but the most reasonable explanation would be that the emperor wanted to weaken the influence of Narud by making him homeless.

Mengsk thought Narud would just take the beating and move to another Moebius facility. The loss of a single planet was acceptable. Before he ordered the retreat, Mengsk made sure Narud wasn't on Tyrador VIII. The Moebius Foundation would be beaten down, but it wouldn't take substantial damage.

Unfortunately, Narud couldn't just move on. One of his missions here in the material world was to take Kerrigan's essence away from her and use it to forge a body for Amon, and to do that he needed the Xel'naga Keystone. Not only so, he needed Raynor to get them so he could eventually use it against Kerrigan. Narud had all the coordinates to the Tal'darim planets that held these fragments, but all of these coordinates were stored in the data cores of Tyrador VIII. Even the xel'naga didn't expect the backstab from Mengsk. As far as his god like mind could see, Tyrador VIII was a safe place.

The backstab caught Emil Narud by complete surprise. If Kerrigan could get into the data cores and locate the coordinates of the artifact fragments, she could easily seize those Tal'darim worlds and take them for herself. Without the artifact, he would never have the opportunity to collect Kerrigan's essence. The Swarm could overwhelm anything and everything, including a lonely xel'naga with a handful of hybrids.

Narud acted swiftly, using the influence of his current identity to its maximum power. The Moebius Foundation washed over the mercenary market, hiring every gun for hire they could find and shipping them to the besieged planet. Narud even went as far as contacting Raynor's Raiders, risking exposing his relation to this infamous rebel group to Arcturus Mengsk just to make sure Kerrigan couldn't get what she wanted.

Among the summoned mercenaries was a certain blonde spectre by the name of Viper.

* * *

But as the terran were busy fighting off the zerg, Jean was doing something rather cruel to her prisoner.

Amanda opened her eyes. Her head felt so heavy.

She silently touched her forehead and glanced around.

Suddenly, a man walked in.

"Sir, Doctor Narud has arrived."

Amanda frowned slightly. She didn't know why, but she felt so strange. But why did she feel strange? She groaned and touched her temple and remembered Doctor Emil Narud was visiting the Skygeirr Station today. He would examine her work on the hybrids. She had spent weeks preparing for this.

How could she forget?

Amanda stood up and straightened her uniform and walked out of the room. The next moment, she was back in the room.

A second has passed, but it felt like hours to Amanda. Inside her mind, she has already welcomed Narud into the facility, showed him her work, and received further instructions on the research.

She could vividly remember Narud telling her to change her focus from developing hybrids to developing weapons against hybrids instead. She didn't know why, but for some reason she didn't bother asking.

She tapped her chin. She needed to start working.

The next second she was inside her lab. She was in her white lab uniform, and she had a hybrid reaver in front of her, restrained and ready to be experimented on.

Amanda frowned briefly. A hint of confusion appeared inside her brain, but that confusion immediately faded away. Now with her mind cleared, she started focusing on the hybrid in front of her…

Delta was watching the entire process unfold.

The hybrids would eventually become one of Amon's strongest servants. Jean could try her best to destroy hybrid factories and cut down the hybrid count as much as possible, but Narud was literally a god. There was no telling how many resources he has accumulated during the centuries he spent in the material world. As far as Jean knew there might be dozens of factories around the sector, continuously pumping out hybrids of all types. There was no way she could take all of them out in time.

She needed an effective way to take these hybrids down, but the problem with machines was that they lacked innovation. AIs could only do what they were programmed to do. Delta and Jean were clever, but they were more focused on computer science than anything else. Engineering and weapon development were quite a distance away from hacking. Jean could learn, but it would take time, and time was something Jean didn't have.

Thankfully, Jean had the perfect scientist. Doctor Amanda has worked on the hybrids for years. She knew a lot about them, and this information could be used to develop a way to take these hybrids down.

Unfortunately, the doctor made it quite clear to Delta that she wouldn't serve an alien master when Delta first talked to her. Most human beings weren't willing to work for aliens, but for some reason this one was especially stubborn.

Delta didn't let that stop her.

After downloading Amanda's mind and killing her to tie up loose ends, Delta sent Amanda's conscious into a program on the Purifier data web. The program, recently coded by Jean, was able to fool Amanda and make her subconsciously think she was still with the Moebius, therefore making her work with all her heart. Posing as people like Narud with administrative access to the program, Delta was able to turn her area of research from building and strengthening hybrids to weakening and killing them.

The hybrids inside the stimulation were constructed based on Amanda's memories and Jean's knowledge, as well as the research data collected from the battle station. Everything else was made to be as real as possible as well.

Delta made Amanda her slave and the doctor didn't even realize it. She thought she was still fighting for humanity.

* * *

Three days later, all the scraps were turned to minerals. The Cybros and the Warden battlecruisers worked at full efficiency. Probes assembled all sorts of Purifier units, from the most basic sentinel and instigators to the most advanced carrier, while Warden SCVs constructed Warden marines and marauders and even vikings and battlecruisers.

One of the advantages of an army of machines was their ability to be produced in mass numbers. As long as the resources were in place, they were endless.

Nearly one thousand legionnaires fell in the battle for the station. At the end of the day, they were replaced by three thousand more, fresh off the assembly line and ready to fight.

Two Purifier carriers were assembled. Tens of thousands of probes worked 24/7 for three whole days and created these several kilometers long weapons of mass destruction. 200 mirages and 50 scouts were produced.

On the other side, all 12 Dominion battlecruisers have been modified into their Warden counterparts. Since it was a modification, they were much cheaper in terms of resources than building a brand new ship. This was extremely efficient compared to spending the minerals on a brand new carrier or battlecruiser.

The Skygeirr station was mostly rebuilt. A Warden Command AI was loaded into its system. A group of Warden SCVs was left on the station. Their job was to repair the orbital defenses so the station at least had some way of defending itself.

The station was sent to a planet where the Purifier expansion parties Delta sent out three days ago have located a mineral rich planet. The station would be turned to a movable manufacturing facility and continuously turn the minerals on the planet to combat units.

As all was said and done, the Warden fleet and the Purifier fleet parted toward two distinctively different destinations.


	74. Chapter 74

Viper wiped a piece of cloth over her sniper rifle once again. This was the only thing that could offer her some comfort in this cold, lonely world.

She was sitting inside a modified dropship. After hearing about the Queen of Blade's attack on the Moebius Foundation, Viper keenly realized there was little doubt Raynor's Raiders would be there as well. Jean told her something about her past when they were together, and Viper knew the Moebius have worked well with the Raiders in the past. At this time of crisis, there would be no reason Narud would forget about the Raiders.

Good. Viper smirked and loaded a round of bullet into her rifle.

After losing Jean, Viper made up a list of those who were responsible for her death. Tosh was on the top of the list. The Terran Dominion wasn't far behind.

Raynor was next in line.

Truth to be told Raynor wasn't responsible for what happened to Jean, but after what happened a couple weeks ago, Viper wasn't exactly logical.

After all, if Raynor didn't betray Jean and side with Nova against Tosh, Tosh's home base wouldn't be damaged, and he wouldn't need to retreat and rebuild his forces. If Tosh was with Jean and Viper when the two Dominion fleets jumped in, everything might be different.

Viper's eyes suddenly turned bright purple as her mind was filled with hatred, and the circuits of the dropship started sparking from rogue psionic energy. Finally, at the last moment, Viper caught herself. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Thankfully, now she has a chance to make Raynor pay for what he did. That was why she joined this mission. She wasn't here to fight the Swarm or to earn a couple credits. She was here to settle a personal matter.

She wanted to send Raynor to see Tosh...in hell.

Suddenly, a deep, dark voice echoed in her brain.

 _Can you feel the pain...now you understand this world is inherently flawed...life contains so much pain...so much hatred...go on...destroy it...end this infinite cycle of misery...and be reborn in blood and fire..._

"Eh." Viper groaned. She has heard about how ghosts who became spectres have a tendency of using extreme violence even when they didn't need to. Ghosts were deadly, but spectres were mad. Some spectres reported seeing hallucinations.

Plus, she has personally experienced the effect of the terrazine. When she first woke up from the terrazine injection, Viper began hearing the voice. At first she didn't think of it, but this voice kept on ranting, and she grew angrier and angrier. This anger, along with the physical pain caused by the terrazine, made her lose control to her power and put her on a killing streak.

She killed everyone on that station without any care of who they were or if they deserved to die. Tosh placed spectres as guards around Viper, but for some reason Viper, even as a brand new spectre, was much stronger than the spectres. She could even sense cloaked spectres and dodge their rounds.

Following the voice, an endless wave of power entered her body from an origin she didn't know about and allowed her to do things she couldn't even imagine before.

Tosh was good. He pumped at least three rounds into Viper, but the former ghost, consumed by a wave of frenziness, literally took all the hits and still charged up to Tosh and stabbed him in the chest. When the fighting ended, all the spectres and mercenaries on the station were dead.

After that, Viper regained her true self, at least temporarily. She left the station and waited for a few days before finally hearing the news and coming here.

The newly made spectre waited a few seconds as the voice gradually quieted down. She didn't really mind it. Her sole purpose in life was getting vengeance, and she didn't bother the voice. If anything, this voice made her feel better from the loss she endured. Plus, the power it granted impressed her.

Suddenly, a signal light on the control panel of the dropship started blinking. Viper opened her eyes and tapped the button. A communication broadcast popped up.

It was Doctor Emil Narud, the head of the Moebius Foundation and her employer.

The boardcast was sent to all the mercenaries that answered to Narud's call.

"Greetings. The situation is serious, so I will get straight to the point. Three leviathans have warped into the orbit of the planet. Zerg flyers are overwhelming our orbital defenses. They have established multiple hive clusters on the surface of the planet. Scanners indicate at least ten thousand zerg units have landed. This number is increasing every second."

"Your mission is to destroy the information stored in five different data cores. I am sending you location of these data cores now."

"What is stopping us from blasting it out of the sky?" One of the mercenary leaders asked. He had a squad of battlecruisers under his command. Sit back, fire a couple rounds of Yamato Cannon, and collect the credits was much better than getting into a hand to hand combat with countless zerg.

"The data cores are designed to withstand orbital bombardment. You will need to enter the buildings, plant explosives, and detonate them to complete the objective." Narud said, slightly frustrated. He spent qute some money on these data cores, but with the upper hand lost and most of the planet lost to the Swarm, these defenses were used against him.

The mercenaries nodded and formed five groups and started moving toward the five locations. Some of the larger mercenary groups, like Mira's Marauders, took one data core fully to themselves. This meant having to cover more ground and take down more zerg, but Narud promised paying based on the contribution of the mercenaries, and getting an entire core for themself meant getting paid one fifth of the overall bounty.

These groups would force away other mercenaries that tried to join them. Leaders like Mira didn't want someone else to get a cut of their prize.

Other, smaller factions teamed up and shared both the target and the reward. Raynor's Raiders was one of such examples. Dozens of other mercenary ships were beside the Hyperion as it started descending into the atmosphere.

Viper piloted her dropship to join the Hyperion. As the transport started dropping in altitude, Viper took out a syringe of purple gas and jammed it into a blood vessel on her arm. She pushed the terrazine into her body.

At the initial contact, Viper's entire body jerked up in excruciating pain, but a smile crawled up to her face. For a moment, she felt invincible. Purple psionic energy converged in her grip, and she felt like she, just like on Tosh's battle station, could crush anyone she wanted, whether it was the mercenaries, the Raiders, or even the Swarm.

Almost at the same time, she felt a soft touch on her cheek. Viper tilted her head slightly and saw Jean's beautiful figure standing right next to her. Her arms were swung around the spectre's neck. Jean's lips touched Viper's.

For a moment, Viper felt happy.

But the happiness was gone in just seconds. Her logic returned, and Viper was returned to the lonely, vengeful spectre who was hell bent on avenging her love.

Viper reached inside her bag, wanting to pull out another dose of terrazine. Her body craved it like someone who has never felt a woman's touch in decades crave sex. But she controlled this urge.

She had something more important to do.

She had a man to kill.

* * *

Dozens of dropships landed at a secured place. The pilots refused to go any further, and the mercenaries weren't willing to risk it. The capital ships weren't maneuverable enough, and if the dropships were down, even if the mercenaries could complete the mission, they would be stranded in a sea of zerg.

Hundreds of mercenaries walked out. Among them were over five hundred Raiders in blue armor. Another five hundred were made up of mercenaries from other factions.

Despite having equal numbers with the other mercenaries, Raynor's Raiders were obviously much stronger. 150 of them had W signs on their helmets. Viper knew this sign all too well. All of a sudden, she couldn't control her anger. Usually an elite ghost operative like her would be much more logical and careful, but taking drugs wasn't exactly good for her mind.

Viper walked up to the man in grey armor in front of the blue mercenaries. A dozen Raiders raised their rifles in alertness, but Raynor stopped them.

"How dare you use her legacy after what you did to her?"

Inside his modified armor, Raynor threw up his eyebrows. "Do I know you, miss?" Raynor knew about Viper before, but she was drastically different. For one thing, she was in a blue ghost hostile suit before. Now her suit was shining in purple. She had a braid behind her, and now her hair was scattered behind her back. Plus, it has been a while since he left Jean. He didn't even know she was presumed dead. Ghosts weren't that rare among mercenaries either. The transition between the Confederacy and the Dominion left countless of these elite operatives loose in the sector.

Mira knew Jean was taken or killed, but during the brief contact between Mira and Horner, the young captain was too busy trying to get the conversation over with to listen to the mercenary talk about gossips. Mira never had a chance to give this piece of information to Horner and Raynor.

Viper smirked and backed off. Words were useless. Only blood could clean his sins.

Raynor turned his mind away from this odd spectre. He turned on a communication channel with the rest of the mercenaries on this data core. "This is James Raynor. I am assuming command of this squad. Anyone's got a problem?" Half a dozen groups each fighting with their own method would result in a disaster. They needed a single command, and Raynor was willing to take the responsibility.

The rest of the mercenaries exchanged several looks before nodding in agreement. Raynor was not only famous for being a man with a plan but also for someone who has never turned against a friend before. This was rare in their line of work. The mercenaries simply couldn't think of a better choice.

"Matt, send a few SCVs and siege tanks down here. Establish a defensive position around the transports." Raynor spoke to Horner in the comm. A small group of mercenaries obeyed the order and stayed behind. Raynor turned to the rest. "The rest of you move out. We've got a job to do."

The Swarm was efficient, but they didn't know where the data cores were. Moebius buildings were designed to shield them against overseers. The zerg units had to be split around all the Moebius buildings. While most of the planet has fallen to the Swarm, some of the Moebius forces were still resisting. Dozens of defensive positions, made up of bunkers and siege tanks, delayed the unstoppable zerg push.

The Queen of Blades did all she could. Besides from tossing armies of elite units into the meat grinder, Kerrigan got her hands dirty as well. She personally took down at least three positions just by herself and slaughtered hundreds of elite Moebius soldiers single-handedly.

But that was it. The Swarm was inevitably delayed, and teams like the one Raynor was leading were given the opportunity to assault the data cores.

" _Dadadada"_

Raynor's gun muzzle jumped, and a zergling collapsed with an exploded skull.

Behind him, hundreds of Warden marines rained down a hail of death onto the oncoming zerg tide. Their AIs were turned to full capacity. They didn't miss a single shot.

The zerg resisted. Hunter killers fired back with their grooved spines, piercing the Warden marines and destroying their CPU, rendering them destroyed. Zerglings leaped into the terran lines, attempting to create some friendly fire. This worked, to a degree. A couple mercenaries fired blindly at the zerglings and missed and hit other friendly marines instead. Others were forced to back off, therefore messing up the formation.

But this distraction was halted in front of the Warden units. These machines, calmly and coldly, predicted the motion of these zerglings and gunned them down.

Viper has been silent the entire time as she continuously eyed Raynor from the back. She occasionally sniped a few zerg, but she wasn't as serious as the rest of the mercenaries. Suddenly, she sensed something, but she didn't say a single word about it.

The terran lines kept on moving, but all of a sudden three green, round figures came out of the ground, right in the middle of the marines and marauders.

"Baneling!" The horrified scream of one of the mercenaries sent sweat down the back of almost everyone present.

Mercenaries and Raiders alike tried to spread out and minimize the damage, but it was too late. All three banelings exploded, spreading corrosive acid across a significant portion of the strike team.

"Ahhh!" Ear piercing Screams immediately covered the radio channel as men were literally melted alive in their armors.

Raynor was lucky. His CMC armor was modified and provided additional protection, but his men weren't as lucky. One of the banelings was right in the middle of the Raiders, and it took killed at least fifteen Raiders and wounded twice that number. Eight Warden marines were damaged beyond repair.

Warden marines have had the history of seeing burrowed infested terran before, but a couple cannon fodders were in no way comparable to the best of the Swarm. Warden marines weren't really detectors. They were merely more observant and saw some signs on the ground, whether they were traces of strange mud pattern or something else. The banelings left no such mark.

Viper sensed the baneling mines from miles away with her enhanced psionic power, but she didn't say a word. If anything, she wanted the strike team to fail. At the moment, with hundreds of Raiders and mercenaries around, she could at most pull her gun on Raynor for a single shot before she was gunned down. Even if she had luck on her side and killed Raynor, she would be dead as well. She wasn't afraid of dying. In fact she was planning to commit suicide and join her love after everything was done, but she couldn't die now. Tosh was dealt with, but the Dominion was still standing, and she wouldn't rest until everything and everyone related to Jean's death was turned to ashes.

She needed to weaken these men as much as possible, whether through the zerg or through other, more unethical means.

Raynor did his best to recover from the ambush. The wounded were escorted back to the transports. The dead were left behind after their dog tags were taken by their comrades. Their next of kin or brothers in arms would receive their part of the bounty. When all was done, the team, now with dozens of men less than before and much more pessimistic about the mission, turned to a much more spread out formation and continued moving forward.


	75. Chapter 75

"Ahhh!" Another war pig was sliced apart by a burrowed hunter killer. Marines turned around their guns and the elite hydralisk was immediately blasted into pieces. But it was too late. The team was down another man.

Viper smirked under her ghost visor. The marine could've survived. In fact, when the hunter killer first came out of the ground, the marine jumped backward and was about to escape the claws of the zerg, but Viper secretly focused her psionic energy and made the man trip, therefore indirectly killing him.

This death arose some doubt among the mercenaries, but most of the men were already numb. The zerg were everywhere, and they weren't afraid to trade their lives for the lives of these terran mercenaries. All the mercenaries wanted to do was get this mission over with and return home with their money.

However, as the man fell, Viper suddenly realized she couldn't keep this going on. The strike teams have already reached the center of the data core, and it would be long before they plant the explosive and evacuate.

A baneling suddenly came out of the ground in front of her. Viper, deep in her own world, didn't sense it as soon as she could've, but she reacted quickly nonetheless. A surge of purple filled her eyes, and the baneling exploded with half of its body still under the ground.

Acid spilled out, but the ones toward Viper were deflected by a psionic shield.

The strike team finally reached the building they came here for. A dozen Raiders marines in blue armors marched inside while the rest secured the surrounding. Scattered zerg units converged on the data core, but they were held back by the mercenary firepower.

Viper remained outside the data core. A series of gunshots came from inside the building. Two minutes later, the Raiders came out.

"The bomb's planted! Let's move! We need to get out of the blast radius ASAP!" Raynor ordered loudly.

Viper bit her lips. Her time was running short. Their mission was about to be completed but at least one half of the mercenary combatants were still standing. If this kept on going, she would have no choice but to draw her rifle and hope she could take down Raynor with one shot.

Suddenly, she thought of something.

Inside another data core, Sarah Kerrigan crushed a squad of war pigs. An elite goliath fired its gatling cannon at the Queen of Blades, but all the Queen did was smirk and hold her hand out, and the next second the terran strider exploded from the inside. The driver was transformed into a million pieces of flesh and bones.

Suddenly, the queen turned toward a distance as she sensed something...something psionic. It was as if someone was trying to get her attention. Closing her eyes and silently ordering her swarm to slaughter what was left of the mercenaries on this site and infest them, Kerrigan launched herself into the air. When she landed again, she was already dozens of meters away. With a method that was multiple times more efficient than walking, Kerrigan moved closer and closer to Raynor's squad.

"Sir, the Queen of Blades is moving toward your location!" Matt Horner immediately saw the queen's movement. The Hyperion, along with most of the Moebius and mercenary battlecruisers, was held back by the Swarm flyers, but Horner always kept a scanner trained on Kerrigan. This cautious act might've saved the life of everyone inside Raynor's squad.

"Damn it!" Raynor turned around. "Move! Kerrigan is coming for us! Move!" The mercenaries, already marching in full speed, moved even faster. Raynor looked back and realized he and his team was already far enough from the data core, and he pulled the trigger.

An explosion sent the data core, along with every piece of information in it, to the ground.

A distance away, Kerrigan growled and jumped once again. This time, Raynor and his men didn't need words from someone inside a towering battlecruiser to understand the situation. They could already see her.

Mercenaries ran as fast as their metal armors could. Marauders were considering dropping their weapons to make themselves lighter, but then, to their dismay, they realized their grenade launchers were attached to their armors. A couple reapers smiled in satisfaction as their jetpacks placed them at the front of the horde. None of the men, not even Raynor, considered the option of standing and fighting, at least not when they had a chance of escaping. Just Kerrigan alone could slaughter them all.

The terran were fast, but this wasn't a race. This was a battle, and this would soon be a massacre.

"Come, my swarm!" Kerrigan keenly saw Raynor among the crowd. Frankly speaking she didn't know who sent out the psionic projection or why she did that, but she didn't care. Even if this was a trap, she was confident she and her swarm could crush everything. That was why she immediately forgot about the psionic signal and turned her attention to her former lover...and current nemesis.

Raynor has, for multiple times, sabotaged Kerrigan's plan to get the Xel'naga fragments. The queen wanted him dead.

All around zerg units converged. A reaper, with a wide smile open his face, was too busy looking back at Kerrigan and ended up smashing into the claws of a hunter killer. Well, let's just say he no longer had a smile on his face. In fact, he didn't even have a face anymore.

Men screamed as they were surrounded and mowed down.

"Matt! We need air support now! We're getting slaughtered down here!" A zergling jumped on Raynor. The man tapped a key on his rifle, and a bayonet popped out. He positioned the bayonet so the zergling literally crashed into the bayonet. Still alive, the zergling screeched, only to be tossed back onto the ground by the rebel commander.

"Our dusk wings are on the way." After a series of successful missions, the Raiders employed a squad of twelve elite banshees, dusk wings. Their hyperflight rotors allowed them to breach the zerg wall of mutalisks and corruptors.

Twelve banshees might not be enough to kill the Queen of Blades, but they could buy some time for the Raiders to escape.

"Thanks, Matt. I know I can...eh!" The next second, Raynor felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down and saw a purple psionic blade coming out of his chest.

Viper.

She used the distraction caused by Kerrigan and the Swarm to deliver the killing blow.

"Sir!" All the Raiders left on site, three hundred or so, immediately went into a frenzy. Raynor's Raiders, as the name suggested, was built around James Raynor. The man was the soul of the army. People didn't join the Raiders because they wanted money or power. They joined because they believed in Raynor's cause. This cause was greater than everyone.

All the Raiders, except the Warden units, who were still gunning down the zerg, turned their guns and started firing at Viper, even those who were about to perish at the hand of zerg units.

Marines turned their guns and sacrificed their lives just so they could fire another bullet at the woman that betrayed and almost assassinated their leader.

Viper barely had time to pull her blade out of Raynor before she was riddled by a hail of bullets. Taken by surprise by the Raiders' obviously suicidal movement, she tried to form a shield around herself, but even so at least a dozen bullets went through here before the barrier was up. Red blood with a trace of purple inside painted her hostile environment suit in an unnatural color. She fell back, struggling to contain a scream. Raynor collapsed on his knees in front of her, but she no longer had the power to finish him off.

Thankfully, the Raiders didn't have much of an opportunity to finish Viper off either as the Swarm used the moment of opening and ripped their lines apart. Even the Warden marines couldn't hold their ground against thousands of zerg. Machines were destroyed. A Command Units repositioned the Warden units to do maximum damage, but a series of spines pierced its chest, went through the armor, and destroyed the CPU.

The strike team was still a distance away from where the transports were, but it would never have a chance to get there. Some of the men were still standing, yet they were completely surrounded and gradually overwhelmed. Every Raider dead was one less terran and every zerg dead meant one fresh zerg could take the place of the fallen.

Seeing the change in the situation, Kerrigan rose her eyebrow, and it took a second for her to realize what happened.

She, the leader of the Swarm and the one who slaughtered billions, was used as a weapon by a puny ghost who she could crush in seconds.

Then again, the situation was good for her. Raynor was pretty much dead. The ghost who used her was as good as dead. This strike team was wiped out. She didn't have a chance to get to the data core the Raiders were in charge of, but the rest of the cores were mostly controlled by her Swarm.

Everything seemed well.

Until twelve banshees came down from the sky and unloaded a sea of backlash rockets on top of her.

"Ehh!" The queen leaped back and dodged out of the blast radius of the explosion. Behind the banshees, a dozen dropships lowered in altitude and landed in the middle of the members of the strike team that survived the previous onslaught.

Upon noticing the situation, Horner directly contacted the pilots of the dropships and convinced them to do a daring attempt: evacuate the Raiders from the middle of the zerg Swarm. Raider pilots complied. Some of the mercenary pilots refused, but they changed their mind when Horner offered an extra payment.

The Raiders that survived hurried into the dropships. Zerg units made a move, but the banshees showed these alien why they were the best in the sector as they emptied everything they had on the Swarm while barely dodging all the spines and glaive worms. A squad of mutalisks came up and was intercepted by a squad of mercenary vikings.

A few men brought the wounded Raynor inside one of the ships. When most of the living were in, the dropships lifted off.

"No!" Kerrigan felt like she needed to keep an entire fleet of mutalisks and corruptors above her at all time. Back on Xil, a squad of vikings ruined her day. Now a squad of banshees is doing the same thing. What is it with her and terran flyers?

Psionic energy condensed at her legs and powered her up. With inhuman strength, she literally landed on one of the dropships that was in midair.

"This ain't fair!" A mercenary war pig inside the transport complained.

The dropship pilot did her best to turn the transport and push Kerrigan off, but her efforts were futile. Kerrigan's spine wings stabbed down and ripped the dropship apart. A couple unlucky passengers, and two pilots, fell out of the sky and into the middle of the Swarm. If they weren't dead when they hit the ground, they wouldn't enjoy any mercy at the hand of the Swarm.

But that was all Kerrigan could do. All the banshees and dropship spread out and stayed away from her. Even if she wanted to jump onto another dropship, she couldn't reach it.

She tried to summon her own flyers, but they were held back by the Moebius and the mercenary battlecruisers and all sorts of fighters. The deadly style of the mercenaries did massive damage to the Swarm.

She could only watch as the transports fly away.

But as she hit the ground, Kerrigan realized there was another entity on the ground who wasn't zerg but was still alive.

The ghost that stabbed Raynor in the back, both figuratively and literally.

None of the Raiders risked their life trying to bring Viper onto one of the boats of life. It was a miracle they didn't kill her. But the ghost's situation was far from good. Dozens of bullets entered her body from one side and came out to opposite side. Her body was a mess. Her suit was in pieces.

A hunter killer walked up to Viper. Its claw was raised into the air, ready to come down and slash Viper into two, but he never had the chance to do so.

Viper literally ripped the hunter killer to pieces with just her mind.

Kerrigan frowned as Viper stood back up. She was obviously different. Her eyes were completely purple. She radiated a powerful psionic energy that made the Queen of Blades feel uncomfortable. She was still wounded, but she didn't seem to care. The openings on her caused by the gauss rounds seemed to be closed already.

Between the time from being shot and almost being dissected by the hunter killer, Viper wasn't waiting to die. Instead, she reached inside her pocket and injected all of the terrazine she carried into her body.

Viper took all the terrazine from Tosh's base. It was enough terrazine to last an entire army of spectres through weeks, but she injected them all into her body in a matter of minutes.

The impact was severe. The voice that has been haunting her for weeks was amplified so much it turned from a quiet whisper to a deafening shout. Every piece of her cell burned, but with pain came power. Her wound didn't magically disappear, but she was able to literally burn them shut.

It hurt, but she didn't care. The pain she felt inside her mind and her body was countless times stronger than the pain of sealing the wounds.

Void energy formed a web and allowed her to see everything around her without even turning.

The ghost looked at Kerrigan. At the moment, all of her pain, fear, and anger exploded. Her logic was burned away by the void energy racing through her veins.

A few minutes before, when she assassinated Raynor, Viper still had some logic within her. She had a plan of escape and intended on leaving this planet alive to fight another day. Even when she injected all the terrazine, she was thinking about living through this situation at all cost so she could take down the Terran Dominion.

Now, all she wanted to do was kill.

The voice inside her mind strengthened that belief.

 _Destroy them all...Raynor...The Terran Dominion...Kerrigan...kill them all in the name…_

 _...of Amon..._


	76. Chapter 76

"You intrigue me…" Sensing the sharp increase in the ghost's psionic power, Kerrigan whispered. "yet the result is the same. Your allies on the ground have been slaughtered. The terran fleet in orbit is beaten back. My underlings have this place surrounded. There's no way out. You're strong, but you're not strong enough."

The queen of trickery was trying to weaken her enemy. This was surprising. In the past Kerrigan practically ran over any enemy she faced. The fact that she felt tricks were needed meant Viper was threatening her, at least to a certain degree.

"All shall submit…" Viper whispered. She was quiet, but her voice echoed through the sky due to the void energy it held. Suddenly, without another word, she launched herself at the Queen of Blades. Her psionic blade, used by ghosts, was in her grip. The color of the blade was turned red due to the extensive use of void energy.

Color wasn't the only thing the change in power source caused. The void blade was much more violent and uncontrollable.

Kerrigan took a step back. Her right hand moved back as it formed a purple orb. As Viper got closer, Kerrigan smashed that psionic orb forward.

Viper formed a red shield in front of her. The orb hit the shield and both were reduced to basic psionic energy.

Now in front of Kerrigan, Viper swung her blade, and Kerrigan took a step back with a small cut across her bare chest. The deadly void energy burned through her armor and generated a long cut.

She was injured.

With a slight advantage, Viper became even more aggressive. Kerrigan's spine blades slashed down from above, but the ghost was ruthless. She didn't even bother to defend herself. Instead, she simply jumped forward and hit Kerrigan in the chest before her spine blades could come down. Viper's void blade went for Kerrigan's throat.

The Queen of Blades growled and backed off. If she stood her ground, then maybe she could kill this strange spectre, but she would be wounded or killed as well. That would be dumb. She was the Queen of Blades, not a common zergling. She had much more value as a commander rather than as a front-line combatant.

Kerrigan was pushed back even further, but this reminded her. She had an army. She didn't need to show off her power and put herself at risk by going into a one on one dual with a potential threat, especially when she didn't need to.

"Come, my children…"

Viper growled as swarm units made a move on her. Hydralisks spat spines. Roaches had acids. Zerglings and banelings formed a flood. Two ultralisks started their charge. Thanks to the zerg psionic network, all the smaller zerg units got out of their way just before the giant legs landed and escaped the fate of being crushed.

Viper screamed. A zergling jumped into the air, and she severed it in midair. A baneling rolled up and was frozen in its path and sent back rolling into a crowd of zerglings. Before the baneling could regain its course, Viper crushed it, and the resulting explosion melted dozens of zerglings.

"Death comes to all!" With a loud cry, Viper's eyes turned from purple to red, and void energy condensed above a part of the zerg army. Immediately, crimson lightning was rained down on the Swarm units.

Roaches and ultralisks could survive a blast or two, but zerglings, banelings, and hydralisks had no such luck.

One of the ultralisks managed to get by the void storm. It charged, attempting to crush his puny foe. Viper was aggressive as well. Just like what Kerrigan did to get to Raynor, Viper used void energy on her legs and sent herself flying. Unlike psionic energy, void energy was much more hard to control, and Viper's ankles cracked, but she didn't let it stop her.

Viper landed on the ultralisk's skull. The beast lifted its head, trying to shake Viper off, but it was too late. Viper ignited her void blade once again and jammed it into the ultralisk's armor. The weapon, powered by the foreign energy, cut through the armor much easier than any traditional weapon, but the ultralisk' armor was simply so thick. Plus, the major organs of ultralisks were scattered across its body, which meant Viper couldn't just locate and destroy the beast's brain.

It's fine. Viper solved this problem by cutting the entire ultralisk into two. Her blade sliced down while her body followed. In the end, Viper literally went through the ultralisk down the middle. As the two pieces of bodies fell to the two sides, the ghost emerged from the smoke.

The purple blood of the ultralisk covered her suit and her skin and made her fearsome.

Unfortunately, zerg didn't give a damn about if they were fighting an unarmed human being or a xel'naga. They kept on charging.

Viper continued her killing spree. None of the zerg laid a finger on her, but Kerrigan could see she was getting more and more exhausted. Void energy came with a price. The terrazine Viper inhaled was in such a great number that it almost established a direct link between her and Amon. She was powerful psionically, but her physical body wasn't enough to hold this power. Despite killing everyone, she was falling apart on the inside.

Just like Kerrigan imagined, as Viper dropped another roach, she suddenly stumbled. She quickly caught herself, but a hydralisk used this opportunity and sent a spine through her shoulder.

The hydralisk was immediately ripped into two, but the damage was already down. Unlike Kerrigan, Viper couldn't use void energy to heal herself.

This was a fight Viper was doomed to lose.

But suddenly, Kerrigan tilted her head slightly and received a report from one of her broodmothers.

"My queen, one of the terran battlecruisers is descending on your location. It seems to be the flagship." Broodmother Zagara looked out of the window of the leviathan she was in. A distance away, a Moebius battlecruiser, under the cover of a green defensive matrix, was forcing its way through layers and layers of mutalisks and corruptors and was on its way toward the planet below.

A squad of corruptors performed a suicidal charge, but their count has been reduced by half on the way to the capital ship. The rest smashed into the defensive matrix and shook it, but that was it.

"Stop them at all cost." Kerrigan ordered. She was confused. Why would the terran launch an attack now? They might be trying to take down the data cores now that most of the strike teams have failed, but why would they send a single battlecruiser? Shouldn't the entire fleet be pushing forward? She looked at Viper. She was still resisting, but she was getting weaker and weaker. No commander would risk an entire ship for a single ghost operative.

Doesn't matter. She had an entire fleet above her. Three leviathans, along with hordes and hordes of corruptors and mutalisks, were more than enough to hold the terran back.

She was disappointed. In space, corruptors and mutalisks were faced by a wave of terran missiles. At first the zerg responded like they always did. Armored corruptors were in the front to tank the damage whereas more fragile mutalisks were behind. Scourges covered the two sides. Their plan was simple yet efficient. The corruptors would take all the terran projectiles and give the scourges and mutalisks a chance to do damage.

But the terran commanders took that into their consideration.

Most of the missiles simply exploded, but one of them was special. As it went off, it released millions of degrees of celsius of heat into the surrounding.

Everything, corruptors, mutalisks, and scourges, were melted. The zerg were adapted to extreme environments, but no amount of adaptation could save them from this. Everything in the blast radius of the nuclear missile perished.

This blasted a hole through the zerg wall and allowed the terran battlecruiser to pass through. As the ship descended into orbit, it unleashed most of its batteries at the zerg units around Viper.

"This is a rescue mission." Kerrigan realized. As unlike as it was, the terran commander was willing to make a seemingly inefficient trade. She turned back to Viper, who was still fighting. "Kill her now!"

Swarm units went into a frenzy as they fought for a chance to be the first to die. The Queen of Blades herself fired an energy blast at the ghost.

"Grrrr." Viper growled. The blast hit her in the chest and added to her already severe injuries. She was getting exhausted. She couldn't keep this up much longer.

Kerrigan leaped into the air once again. This time her landing zone was right on top of Viper. The ghost tried to concentrate her void energy, but she wasn't strong enough. Her entire body was going numb. The simple act of forming a void shield used to take her less than a second. Now it required several seconds to be formed. Under this circumstance, these seconds might be the difference between life and death.

But even at the brink of death, Viper was looking at Kerrigan with blazing eyes, filled with nothing but anger and hatred.

Suddenly, Kerrigan was hit in the middle of her jump when an orange bolt smashed into her, tossing her back. It came from one of the laser batteries from the battlecruiser.

Twelve Moebius vikings came out of the hanger of the battlecruiser and unleashed twenty four lanzer torpedoes on the Swarm. The blast cleared the area. A single modified dropship came out of the hanger under the cover of the fighters.

A hunter killer that survived the onslaught fired a spine into the air, but it was deflected by the armor of the dropship. The transport landed in front of the semi-unconscious ghost. Two Moebius marines came out and carried her into the ship.

The dropship lifted off and turned around. Its afterburner was ignited, and the dropship returned back to the battlecruiser without many obstacles.

A distance away, hundreds of mutalisks regrouped and came back, but they were too late. With the fighters and the transport back inside the hangar, the battlecruiser jumped away.

* * *

Inside the flagship, Doctor Narud watched as the signals of the strike teams disappeared one by one. Only two of the strike teams completed their mission, which meant three of them didn't.

This meant Sarah Kerrigan has gained access to the coordinates to the Keystone Fragments.

At this point there were only two more pieces of fragments, and Narud was considering having the Tal'darim deliver it directly to him. Previously he made Raynor fight the Tal'darim because he wanted Raynor to think he got the artifacts with his own effort and therefore trust it and use it. If Narud just gave Raynor the artifact and told him, "hey, this is a magical weapon that can suck the power out of the Queen of Blades," the man might get suspicious.

But now he could no longer risk it. Kerrigan would no doubt go for the Keystone fragments, and the Swarm was endless. He wasn't sure if the Death Fleet could hold it off, especially since he specially ordered Highlord Ma'lash to place the fragments at some distant planets, outside the protection of the Death Fleet. If Kerrigan hit these places…

"Pull the fleets back. We have lost this planet." The xel'naga in disguise passed down an order to his lieutenants. He stood up to walk out of the bridge, attempting to contact the Tal'darim, but one of his men stopped him.

"Sir, what should we do with the ghost? She has already slain half a dozen of our men. We had to knock her out."

Narud paused. He ordered the daring rescue because, from orbit, he sensed the psionic emission of Viper. He was not as powerful in the material world as he was in the void, but he was a powerful psionic user nonetheless. From what he sensed, this single ghost, while wasn't as powerful as him or Kerrigan, was still a deadly warrior. More importantly, she was a ghost. At this phase of his plan, some missions required stealth, and she would be the perfect candidate.

It would be a pity to let her die down there. Plus, Narud felt the familiar feeling of void energy from the ghost. Just like him, she was also a servant of Amon. They could easily work together and complete their common goal.

"Keep her in a cell for now. I'll go talk to her later."


	77. Chapter 77

Jean didn't know someone was going to hell to avenge her "death". At the moment, she and Stukov were standing in the bridge of one of the Warden ships.

A total of twenty seven Warden battlecruisers were heading for Umojan territory. Jean and Stukov were inside the Gorgon flagship. Inside ten of these battlecruisers were 53,000 infested terran. Most of them were infested marines. A few infested siege tanks and infested goliaths were mixed among them.

The battlecruisers exited warp space above a recorded planet colonized by the Umojans. Teel V was the planet's name, not that it mattered to Jean.

"Isolate the planet."

Immediately, ten squads of previously prepared wraiths, a total of 120 of them, exited the hanger of the Warden fleet. In groups of six, they activated their cloaking fields and started patrolling around the planet.

An Umojan civilian frigate was in the wrong place at the wrong time. A group of wraiths surrounded the frigate. Using the element of surprise, these wraiths moved to the rear of the transport and fired a couple rounds of missiles, which ignited the warp drive.

"All Umojan forces on Teel V! We are under attack! I repeat, we are under attack!"

Civilian frigates didn't have the luxury of having detectors. All the captain of the frigate could do was send out distress calls to the Umojan command center on the planet.

"Identify the source of the attack." A Umojan officer in white armor, after notifying his supervisor, replied. If the Umojans wanted to send out help, they needed to know who the enemies were first. A squad of mutalisks was different from a fleet of twenty leviathans.

The captain looked at his scanner again and didn't see anything. "I don't see anything! They're cloaked."

"Cloaked?" Cloaked ships were expensive. Why would someone send out these covert ships to take down a random colony planet? There was not much resource here. This wasn't a military target. The Umojan forces here were limited to two squads of vikings, a battalion of militias, and several hundred Umojan soldiers.

"Wait, they're sending out transports." The frigate captain saw a few dropships approaching. "I think they're terran. I'll have to surrender." He said quietly. His ship was for civilian use. The strongest weapon he had at his disposal was a pistol in his belt, and it could barely kill a zergling. Without waiting for an answer from the Umojan officer, he tried to contact the dropships.

He didn't receive any response as the dropships were attached to the landing docks of the frigate. The captain sighed. At this point all he could hope for was that these attackers were pirates who came for his money. "Everyone stay where you are. Do not resist." He was afraid some hot-headed crew member might try to play hero and get everyone on the frigate killed.

After the order was given, the man took a deep breath and walked to the landing docks.

He expected to see a group of pirates. He didn't expect to see…

"What the...Zerg! Zerg!"

"Ahh!"

Meanwhile, as the frigate was turned to a slaughterhouse, the Umojan forces on the ground were doing everything they could. The officer in charge, a colonel, ordered his men to contact the Umojan High Command immediately, but...

"Sir, the communication seems to be blocked. I can't reach anyone."

The Umojan colonel acted as calmly as possible. Fear could never help.

"Summon the militias. Mobilize our men and form a defensive position behind our turrets. Get all our guns online and bring our fighters into the air, but do not go outside the firing range of our turrets. We can't risk losing them to cloaked enemy fighters. Bring all the civilians behind our guns."

The officer's decisions were great. The planet had around 120,000 civilians. Out of them, 5000 have joined the militias just in case situations like this would happen. After sending their families onto transports, these men went into their brand white CMC armors and grabbed onto their gauss rifles. They were ready to fight for the survival of their families.

As the militias escorted the civilians to the Umojan position, they were satisfied to see it was already being fortified. Dozens of bunkers were already in place, and Umojan SCVs were building more. Five hundred Umojan soldiers have already entered their modified armors. Eight siege tanks entered siege mode. Vikings darted across the sky. Turrets were ready to unleash missiles on any enemy flyer that entered its range, whether they were cloaked or not.

After kissing a final goodbye to their families, the militias joined the Umojan forces inside the bunkers.

"Sir, there's something approaching." The Umojan colonel was in the field as well. Hearing the voice was a soldier, he looked up and saw a terran transport dropping in altitude.

"Sir, it's the frigate." Another man said. He saw the frigate on a scanner before. "It's the frigate that was attacked, sir. Last I heard it was boarded by the enemies. Should we take it down?"

"Wait." Colonel held his hand up. "Let it land. Aim all our guns at the transport. All turrets, lock down the sky. This might be a distraction."

"Sir? Shouldn't we stop it from landing? There's no telling what's in there."

"We need to know who our enemies are. Comply."

"Yes sir."

Umojan forces spread out and formed an open space, allowing the frigate to land. As soon as it landed, hundreds of marines circled around. Dozens of guns were trained on the door.

"Attack." Inside the Valiant, Jean turned to Stukov and ordered.

The infested terran nodded.

The door of the frigate snapped open, and those inside poured out.

"What the hell is that?" One of the Umojan militias said in horror as the first figure walked into the light. It was a crew member, or rather it used to be a marine. Half of its stomach was gone and its guts were being dragged through on the ground, but it was still moving.

The Colonel knew much more about the zerg than an ordinary militia. "It's a zerg virus. Open fire!"

All the guns started blazing. The hail of metal ravaged through the first infested terran and killed him instantly.

But that was just the first zerg. A second infested came out, and then a third. However, the door of the frigate was relatively narrow, and it could only fit a couple infested at once. None of the infested could survive long enough to get out of the frigate while being blasted apart by a dozen gauss rifles. There were hundreds of infested in the frigate, but they were killed one by one.

For the moment, the infested seemed to be beaten back.

Sadly for the terran, this was merely the treat. All around the terran settlement, seas and seas of infested approached.

"Sir!" A man on the lookout cried.

It took the Colonel a few seconds to realize what was going on. "All militias return to the bunkers and open fire on the infested lines. All siege tanks open fire on center mass! Vikings, take out this frigate!" He didn't have time to waste with picking off the infested inside the frigate one by one. "Marines, clear the wreckage and return to your post ASAP."

The squad of vikings came down from the sky and fired a round of torpedoes at the frigate, which immediately exploded. Countless pieces of flesh and bones were sent flying toward all directions. Some of the infested survived the blast, but Umojan marines approached slowly and gunned down the infested with clean, concise shots. The advanced computers installed into their armors and rifles made the process much easier.

As soon as that was done, the marines ran back to the bunkers and started unloading on the sea of zerg outside the positions.

Siege tank shells exploded in the midst of the infested. Every single shot sent dozens of infested flying across the sky. Gauss rifles pierced the infested in the front of the infested lines. The squad of vikings landed and started adding to the terran firepower.

But all of those were useless. The Warden battlecruisers unloaded tens of thousands of infested on the ground, and since they came from the bodies of the Dominion soldiers on Skygeirr Station, a large portion of them were armed.

Infested marines started firing back at the Umojan marines. They were much weaker, but they had overwhelming numbers. Nearly ten thousand infested marines approached from all three hundred sixty degrees, firing as they moved.

The Umojan simply didn't have the men. In order to protect the hundreds of thousands of civilians, they had to cover all four sides. On average, each side had around a thousand men. On the other hand, the infested could put over ten thousand men per side. It was more than ten to one.

At first the Umojan held their ground with their firepower, but as time passed, the infested line got closer and closer.

An infested siege tank sieged up. An infested terran, fatter than ordinary infested, voluntarily walked to beside the tank. Suddenly, a tentacle came out of the tank's side, grabbed onto the infested, and dragged it into the tank. A few seconds later, the infested terran was shot out of the gun barrel. It landed on one of the bunkers.

Instead of trying to futilely rip the bunker apart and be gunned down in the process, the infested terran simply exploded like a baneling. Immediately, the neosteel frame of the bunker was corroded. Four marines inside the bunker took a breath of relief when they realized the last layer of steel was still intact, but that changed when the siege tank let loose another shot, which landed at the exact same sport. Only this time, these marines didn't have the chance to take a breath, or do anything, in fact. They were too busy being melted.

The Colonel knelt down behind a bunker and listened to the sounds of bullets hitting the bunker. Beside him, two Umojan marines, a bit too slow, were ravaged through by countless rounds.

The man barely had the time to mourn the death of two brave souls when the two marines stood back up. Only this time, tentacles were coming out of their mouth.

Infested marines had virus on their rounds. A single wound on the Umojans could turn them to the monsters they were killing just seconds ago.

Vikings kept on firing. That was until missiles came out from the seemingly empty sky and ripped them apart. Turrets retaliated, but they weren't enough. The wraiths came in, took down the vikings in one round of bombardment, and got out. A few fighters took some rear damage, but they were still flying.

The Colonel groaned and ran back into the command center. "Have we established contact with High Command yet?"

"No sir, wait." Suddenly, the face of an Umojan officer appeared on the computer screen. "It's through, sir."

"This is Colonel Olsen of the Umojan garrison at planet Teel V! We are under attack by zerg infested units! They have overwhelmed our lines. Send help now! We have the entire colony at risk!"

The officer on the other end realized the situation was serious as well. "Yes sir. Hold your position as long as possible. Help is on the way." Already, two of the dozens of battlecruisers of the Umojan Fleet that were put on yellow alert were getting ready for warping.

"Also," Colonel Olsen suddenly remembered the cloaked fighters. He sensed this might be important. "there are…" That was when the radio went blank.

Jean wanted the Umojan High Command to know about the infested attack, but she didn't want them to know an unknown terran faction might be involved, so she shut the radio down before the colonel could say something wrong.

"Oh Damn it…" Colonel Olsen glanced at the Umojan officer, who kept on trying to re-establish the communication but kept on failing. Finally, the colonel gave up and went outside the command center, wanting to contribute a little more to the overall cause.

He was disappointed to realize the cause was already lost as crowds of infested ran past him. He drew his rifle and gunned down two infested, but the next second a volatile infested ran into him.

Following an explosion, Colonel Olsen fell on the ground. Distinctly, he could see infested charging into the facilities where the Umojans were keeping the colonists. As horrified screams and cries for help came out, the man closed his eyes.

Seconds late, his eyes snapped open again.

One more infested terran joined Stukov's army of the dead.


	78. Chapter 78

What happened to Teel V was just the beginning. With lightning speed, the infested took over half a dozen more colonies, killing and infesting everyone on those planets. Local Umojan garrisons were wiped out. Some barely had time to send out a cry for help before being overrun.

The Umojans reacted as swiftly as possible. The Umojan Fleet, roughly three hundred battlecruisers, was sent on its path to cleanse the infestation. While their numbers were fewer than the Dominion Fleet, the Umojans had absolute technical advantage. For one thing, a dozen of the newest ravens were among the battlecruisers. For another, a brand new type of vessel, the liberators, were added to the fleet.

Liberators had Lexington rockets that were brilliant in dealing with a group of smaller flyers, but what really made them menacing was their ability to bombard enemy ground targets from orbit with their concord plasma cannons. This way, all the Umojans had to do was hold the orbit, and their liberators could take out the infested one by one in a completely secured environment. Everyone knew the infested lacked the ability to challenge the terran capital ships.

As the Umojan Fleet reached the first planet that was attacked, Teel V, everyone thought this would be an easy fight. They were wrong.

The infested didn't even attempt to fight the entirety of the fleet. Instead, all the infested units burrowed themselves as deep underground as possible.

This made it much more difficult on the Umojan part. At first, they tried to combine the power of orbital scans and liberator concord cannons. It wasn't a bad idea. Orbital scans could identify all the burrowed infested, no matter how deep they were, while concord cannons could obliterate any infested with a single shot. But after ten minutes, the Umojan commander had no choice but to call off the attack.

Why? This was way too expensive.

There were hundreds of thousands of infested on Teel V alone. Concord cannons were designed to take down single targets. A single shot could obliterate a siege tank. But it wasn't good at doing explosive damage. Perhaps a single round could take down a couple infested that were clumped up together, but that was it. In other words, the liberators needed to fire at least one hundred thousand rounds to cleanse the infestation on this planet alone.

Concord cannons were basically plasma cannons. They took a lot of energy to be fired. The Umojans weren't as wealthy as the Dominion. One hundred thousand rounds of plasma cannons could make them bankrupt. Just the concord cannons was something the Umojan Fleet couldn't afford, and that was not counting the resources and energy needed for continuous orbital scans to identify the location of the infested.

If the Umojans tried this, a couple planets of infested could drag the Umojan Fleet to its destruction. That was a major problem of the terran way of combat. Every round fired needed money, and without the supply, terran ships were practically crippled.

The Umojans tried out another way of approach. Medivacs of marines and marauders were unloaded on a few areas of Teel V that was already scanned and cleared. A few ravens descended from orbit and provided passive detection support. Their computers identified the infested and passed their locations to the men on the ground, who moved forward and gunned the infested down. This was a much cheaper mean of cleansing the infestation.

Stukov, upon seeing the situation through the zerg psionic network, developed countermeasures. As a former UED general, he was a great tactician. He was well aware that all he needed to do was keep his units alive. He didn't need to take down the fleet. All he needed to do was exist, and his ally could do the rest.

As the Umojan strike team moved across the creep covered surface of the planet, the raven pilot suddenly frowned as she noticed that the infested went even deeper into the planet.

"Sir, the zerg are getting deeper." She immediately reported to her superior.

"Why?" The Umojan Fleet commander didn't understand the zerg's decision. Terran ravens could notice infested units no matter how deep they were. Of course, it was possible the zerg commander didn't know this, but…

But the marines on the ground quickly realized the answer to the commander's question. One of them fired at a burrowed infested, glanced at the real time data the raven sent him, and frowned.

"Sir, our guns can't seem to kill those zerg."

Gauss rifles had terrific penetration capabilities, but even they couldn't accurately hit their target after going through dozens of meters of ground. Infested units had zerg characteristics, and the things with zerg was that they were tough to kill. Usually, for gauss rifles, only a shot to the head could take them out. The marines still had some scores, but their efficiency sharply dropped.

Marauders were even worse as their explosive shells went off on the ground itself.

The fleet commander frowned and mentally went through the terran arsenal, but he couldn't think of anything that could take out the zerg efficiently. He could always nuke the entire planet to ashes, but that would be pointless. The terran would have spent countless credits and resources in exchange for a half melted planet and a field of dead zerg. The minerals and vespene gas on the planet would be destroyed, and the planets would barely be inhabitable.

"Sir?" The ground team was still waiting for orders.

"Pull back our ground teams. We need an alternate approach."

In the end, the Umojans had little real counter to the almost cheating tactic. They left a planetary fortress at the area where the richest minerals of the planet were. Three liberators and one battlecruiser towered from high orbit, ready to provide fire support in case of an infested attack. A garrison of marines, along with heavy mech support like siege tanks, was in the fortress. The whole purpose of this settlement was not to terminate the infested on the planet but rather to keep them from leaving. The Umojans couldn't kill all the infested on the planet, but they could make sure they never see the light of day.

After leaving these forces, the Umojan Fleet went for another infested planet. They would need to repeat this process at least a dozen times, if not more.

It was a good plan. Normally, the infested could never gather enough power to break through all the firepower the planetary fortress was packed with, especially if the terran had absolute air dominance, and any zerg movement could be scouted by the terran forces. Unfortunately, the Umojans' plan of isolation didn't work. As good as it sounded, the plan didn't take Jean and her ships into consideration.

There were countless infested on the planets, but they were mainly made up of infested civilians and infested colonists. In reality, Jean had most of Stukov's forces, most of the infested marines and all of the infested mech, on her battlecruisers. With the element of surprise, the amount of damage they could potentially do was unimaginable.

* * *

The Umojan Protectorate was shaken by recent reports of zerg infestation. For years the Umojans have remained relatively neutral in the sector. They were hostile against the Terran Dominion and were no friend with the Queen of Blades, but they were able to fend for themselves well enough. This sudden infested invasion and the fall of dozens of planets in just days was enough to send all the senators into a frenzy inside the Umojan Ruling Council, demanding something to be done to protect the lives of the people. The general public, with much less restrictions than those of the Terran Dominion, spoke freely on this matter.

When the Umojan Fleet was mobilized and deployed, both the senators and the public calmed down a bit. A few of them even complimented the fleet commander after he informed them that the infestation has been controlled.

This changed during an incident at the heart of the Protectorate.

Three days after the Umojan Fleet was sent out, just when the Umojan people returned to their peaceful way of life, a civilian ship landed at one of the docks of the capital planet of Umoja. The ship went through the inspection just fine, but when the doors opened, what came out weren't human.

Armies of infested charged out and slaughtered everyone in their way. This caught the Umojans by complete surprise. The port the infested attacked was a civilian one, and the hundred or so security guards, hired by the corporation that owned the port, simply fled the scene along with the rest of the occupants. Even if they stayed, there would be nothing that they could do.

When Umojan security forces arrived and put down the attacking forces, half of the port's population was gone. Some of them died from the infested, but most died by accident while trying to run to safety. Just the stampedes killed hundreds.

Despite all the casualties, the attack itself did little damage. There were hundreds of ports like the one that was attacked and the Umojans could easily rebuild these destroyed ports, but this attack told the Umojan people one thing, and that was that the Umojan Fleet couldn't protect its people. If the capital of the Protectorate, the most heavily defended inside the Umojan Protectorate, allowed the zerg to come and go as they wish...

At first the Umojan people were united. Umojan Fleet Commander Thorn promised to the world that a similar attack wouldn't happen again, but it did. More importantly, it happened just the following day of the attack on Umoja and Thorn's announcement.

This time the target of the attack was one of the most populated colonies of the Protectorate. Over ten million people populated that planet, and when tens of thousands of infested marines and hundreds of infested vehicles descended from orbit, this huge population merely meant more units for the army of the dead.

The local garrison made a desperate stand to buy time for help to arrive. Marines kept their fingers on the trigger even as their own bodies were ripped apart by the sea of infested. Siege tank pilots reloaded and fired their rounds as their positions were overwhelmed and their own vehicles were turned to metal coffins. Even as infested started going through the vehicle's plating, the brave men and women worked to reload another round and fire it into the enemy mass. With any luck, this might save the lives of countless human beings on the planet.

Squads of white vikings entered fighter mode and flew across the infested sea and dropped torpedo after torpedo into the center. Every explosion killed dozens and the vikings dashed away before the infested marines could fire enough shots to pierce the advanced Umojan plating. But the vikings didn't have much time to smile. Scattered around hundreds of infested civilians, a dozen infested goliaths enabled their hellfire missile systems and launched the projectiles at the fighters.

The first wave took the Umojans by surprise and took down three vikings. The wreckages fell into the infested lines and paved three roads of flesh and bones through the formation before exploding.

"Circle around. Take them out!" The viking captain ordered as the squads of vikings turned around for another dive, but this time, as they faced the goliaths and locked their torpedoes onto these zerg vehicles, one of the viking pilots suddenly saw all the infested around the goliaths turning around, revealing their hidden gauss rifles.

They were infested marines all the time, but they posed as infested civilians for an opportunity like this, and they got it.

"Fall back!" The captain shouted. Too late.

A storm of infested gauss rounds penetrated the glass and armor of all the vikings and ravaged through the cockpit, killing the pilots and sending their bodies twitching inside their seats. The viking wreckages slammed into the goliaths and marines and killed some, but the fact was all of the Umojan air forces on the planet were gone.

All across the planet the battle turned more and more brutal. The infested tossed themselves at the enemy fire. To them, the orders of Stukov meant everything. The Umojans didn't budge an inch until every single one of them was dead. While the Dominion troopers fought because of fear, the Umojans fought because it was their duty. Every single one of these men knew millions of innocent people were counting on them. If they fell back and fled, those innocent would be killed or worse. Not a single man budged.

The situation turned even worse as the squad of five battlecruisers in high orbit, previously unloading on the infested, suddenly went quiet. They were what kept the infested back, and now they were gone. Without the sufficient firepower, the Umojans were swarmed over.

By the time the majority of the Umojan Fleet warped in, the planet's defenses were already in pieces. Umojan strike teams were immediately deployed via drop pods and Umojan ships immediately started unloading on the enemy mass, but it was too late. When the last infested fell with its skin melted by a round of laser, half of the planet's population has already been massacred. Even worse, the Umojans found the bodies standing back up as infested units...

This tragedy shocked the world. Most importantly, it was a slap to the face to General Thorn. The Umojan people protested in hundreds of thousands, wondering how their armed forces could keep them safe and prevent tragedies like this one from happening again.

Unfortunately for the Umojan Ruling Council, the Umojan Protectorate was more of an alliance than an empire. Minister Jorgenson, the leader of the Protectorate and the commander in chief of the armed forces, could neither put down the protests and complaints with force like Mengsk did nor turn the weapon of the media to his advantage. He had no choice but to watch as more and more of the Umojans grew dissent toward the government.

That was when Jean stepped in.


	79. Chapter 79

Inside a dropship, Jean put a mask on her. As soon as it made contact with her face, it started to merge with her skin, changing her facial features. Within just seconds, she looked completely different. She was still a blonde girl, but even Viper couldn't recognize her.

Jean knew a lot of people has seen her face, whether it was Nova, Mengsk, Raynor, or Tosh. All of them thought she was dead and she wanted them to keep it that way. What she was about to do might make her face all over the papers, and she didn't want the name 'Jean Turner' to be spoken again anytime soon.

The mask was a piece of high tech gadget she created from zerg changelings. It took her a lot of time and resource, but it was well worth its cost.

After all, she was going to meet the leaders of one of the strongest terran factions in the sector.

The dropship came to a stop at an open airfield inside the Umojan senate-house on Umoja, and Jean, alone, walked out. She was met by an officer and two marines in white armor and blue helmets.

"Miss Cassidia. The ruling council is waiting for you." Cassidia was Jean's alias.

"Then let's go."

Even behind the walls of the senate-house, Jean could still hear the angry voice of the mob that has gathered on the outside, protesting the lack of action by the Umojan Fleet. The Umojan Protectorate was largely made up of people who fled the oppressive rule of the Terran Dominion, and most of them had a grain of salt against government manipulation of media and suppression of protests. If the Umojan officials used force to disperse the mob, they would crumble over from within. They had no choice but to set up a perimeter and simply allow the people to say what they wanted to say.

To Jean, this was good news. The tougher the situation is for the Umojans, the more likely she could get their support for her project.

Within five minutes, Jean and the officer walked into a large room where dozens of men and women were seated. A man by the name of Jorgensen was at the top. He was the minister of the Protectorate and the man Jean hoped to convince.

"Miss Cassidia." The minister said openly. Bureaucracy existed within the Protectorate, as it did in any political system, but none of these politicians were in the mood for the art of words. They needed a solution and they needed it now. Reports of infestation on almost every planet across the Protectorate came in every hour. Some were put down. Some weren't. The Umojan Fleet ran around like headless chickens. They could kill millions of infested above ground with ease, but whenever they reach a planet, the local infested would disengage the Umojan settlement and burrow. Clearing them would take time, and the infested at other planets would unburrow and start attacking. The Umojans tried to split up their ships, but one or two battlecruisers couldn't stop millions of infested. The zerg could simply take the laser batteries to the face and still kill every single terran on the ground and then burrow.

It was a pointless war. The number of infested grew exponentially despite all the fighting, and the Umojans took heavy damage. Apart from the casualties, mining and manufacturing activities were disrupted. Fear and anger crippled the social system. Ammunition storage was dropping. They were on the jaws of defeat.

The Umojans were known for their advanced technology, but they didn't have the resource to use it to its full potential. A handful of shadowguards, Umojan ghosts with high tech weapons and other gadgets, could do very little against all the infested. They could call down nukes, but that wouldn't change anything. They considered taking out the source of infestation, but Stukov was on a Warden battlecruiser in a pair of secret coordinates. Jean knew he was one of the vulnerabilities of this plan, as if he died then all the infested would go feral, and she made precautions. Umojan ravens had a similar fate as they couldn't really do anything. Advanced scanners provided passive detection, but the Umojans simply didn't have an efficient mean to kill all the millions of underground infested.

The Umojans have had quite the progress in developing warbots, including eradicators, but these warbots were expensive and rare, and even dozens of them would simply be swarmed over by the infested.

This was no time fo political crap.

"You told us you have a solution to the zerg infestation. What is it?"

Jean smiled politely, making her seem more honest. She tapped something and sent a file to the hologram projector inside the room. Jorgensen nodded at an officer, who turned on the projector.

"I propose a joint defense system. Your biggest problem is having no way to defend the infested from attacking your settlements. Well, this should solve your problem."

"N-11 neural toxin. Capable of killing any living being not inside a fully concealed armor. This includes the infested. Pump them into the atmosphere, and all the infested will die while your people, inside the cover of their armors and homes, will be safe and sound. The toxin will disperse just minutes after the initial deployment, leaving no permanent damage to the environment."

The Skygeirr battle station was heavily defended in more than one way. The Dominion forces and ships were just the first layer of defense. The surface of the platform held several poison gas reserves that could send neural toxin into the surrounding with the press of a button. This was designed specifically to slaughter large number of smaller, weaker zerg units. Unfortunately for the defenders, they were attacked by a group of enemies completely impervious to these gas. An army of machines. The Dominion deployed all their toxin into the environment, only to poison some of their own men who forgot to shut their helmet.

After taking over the station, Jean got these devices as well, and now she was selling them to the Umojans. Capitalism at its finest.

The senators looked at each other. Poison gas would be a quick way to take care of the infested. They knew that, but their technology departments failed to develop a type of poison gas strong enough to kill the zerg units. After all, the zerg were the masters of biology and bio-virus. They have heard reports of the Dominion science departments coming up with a way, but it was put under top security clearance and even the best shadowguards couldn't get to it. How this random mercenary, Jean contacted the Umojans as a mercenary, came to hold this precious technology as possession was a mystery.

Not that they cared. They weren't police or scientists. They were leaders. As long as this technology could solve their problem, they would use it no matter where it came from.

"Unfortunately, according to my research, these toxic gas can only kill infested civilians and infested marines. Other infested units, like infested vehicles and ships, as well as aberrations, can still persevere. This means we need a more direct mean of attack to complement the toxic gas."

"We can deploy our own ground units. As long as the toxin takes care of most of the infested…"

"With all due respect, Minister Jorgensen, Umojan units have been proven to be ineffective against the infestation." Jean quickly cut him off. "In fact, human soldiers have emotions like fear and hatred, and these emotions keep them from effectively terminating infested units."

"Human soldiers?" One of the senators noticed what Jean said. "Are you suggesting we use AI forces instead? But our eradicators…"

"I am not talking about eradicators. In fact, eradicators are not designed for frontal combat. Their peacekeeper guns are single targeted and their AIs aren't suitable for large scaled depulication and deployment. I am talking about another type of much more efficient warbots."

She tapped something on her device.

"Warden warbots."

...

"These Warden units, they appear to be...quite capable." One of the Umojan senators finally said after standing there in awe for nearly a minute after Jean showed her and the rest of the ruling council information on these so called Warden units.

The Umojan Protectorate was technically a militia organization. They had a standardized fleet and a professional army, but their combat strategies were limited to attacking and retreating. Warden units, on the other hand, were literally killing machines. Everything about them was modified to make them fight more efficiently.

Jean was right. Biological marines might fire more rounds than necessary due to fear, but Warden marines would fire the minimal amount of bullet required and stop as soon as the enemy was down. Siege tank drivers might miss a shot or fire inefficiently, but Warden AIs installed into siege tanks could make sure every cannon round lands in the middle of all the enemies, therefore doing the maximum damage when they explode.

Marines and siege tanks were just two of the examples. Every unit within the Warden army supplemented each other. With the Warden units in place, along with the poison gas, the infested would never do as much damage as they did at the initial outbreak.

"Very well." Jorgensen nodded in satisfaction. "Now, name your price."

Jean approached Jorgensen as a mercenary. Everything about this was a deal. She helped them solve their problem, and they would give her something in return. After seeing Jean's worth, Jorgensen was asking her what she wanted in return.

Jean smiled. Truth to be told, all she came here to do was use Umojan resources to advance the Warden unit count, but saying she didn't want anything would be suspicious. A mercenary wouldn't just go to a bunch of world leaders and save them from destruction by providing them precious information just to want nothing in return. Every action has a purpose, and if she didn't want anything, Jorgensen would realize she has already got what she wanted.

"How about 50000 credits?" She asked casually.

* * *

Information and codes of Warden units were sent to manufacturing centers all over the Protectorate. A large portion of the Umojan Fleet was deployed to protect these centers from infested attacks, not that the infested, under the command of Stukov and therefore, would've attacked these Warden producing facilities anyways. Resources were shipped into the factories and were turned to fresh mechanical soldiers ready to kill. They would then be shipped to planets all over the Protectorate, where they would carry out patrol and guard duties.

Meanwhile, all of the Umojan settlements started installing N-11 gas deployment systems. All the Umojans around those settlements were told to keep a fully concealed CMC armor around them at all time. Houses and other buildings could be completely sealed from the outside both manually and with the order of a computer. If the infested broke through the Warden line and got into the streets, the central computer could seal all the buildings, issue a warning and recall all the pedestrians, and send gas into the streets, terminating all the zerg.

All of those systems could be controlled by the commander of the settlements as well as a central Warden AI. Throughout the infestation, there has been cases where the commander, whether because he was infested or due to other reasons, wasn't there when the attack happened. To prevent the loss of communication to the commander from causing the complete breakdown of the entire defense system, Jean suggested the installment of a Warden Command AI in all of the settlements. These AIs had less authority than the commanding officer, but when the time came, and when Jean decided her cover was no longer needed, the identity of the commander would change almost immediately.

As the Warden units were put in place, the infestation was gradually put down. Some of the infested launched several attacks on terran settlements and were forced to pull back after taking massive losses. The rest laid dormant, but dormant meant not having access to fresh combatants. Faced with no way out, they remained underground and went quiet.

The Umojans thought the infested simply gave up and were waiting for a better opportunity to strike, so they maintained the Warden count at every planet and replenished whatever ammunition or unit that was lost, but only Stukov knew what was really going on.

Jean no longer needed the infested to exert a massive amount of pressure on the Umojans to force them to adopt the idea of someone who they knew nothing about, but she did need the Umojans to keep the Warden units they already have, thus came the dormant infested. As long as the infested remained on the scanners of the Umojans, Jean didn't need to worry about her units being replaced.


	80. Chapter 80

Slayn. The blood council.

Six Ascendant Nyon scanned the room. Neither Highlord Ma'lash nor Fist Ascendant Nuroka was here. Only Guraj, Zenish, Ji'nara, and Alarak were present.

It was reasonable. Although Ma'lash called for the meeting, the strongest was usually the latest to arrive. This was a matter of respect.

Nyon turned to Alarak and Ji'nara.

"Ahhh. Six Ascendant." Alarak smirked, emphasizing on Nyon's rank. "I hear you raided another Daelaam facility. Your forces must have grown."

"I consider that battle disappointing. Two of the Daelaam carriers fled. I was only able to seize two tempests." Although he said he was disappointed, Nyon was actually smirking. He glanced at Ji'nara, who tried to cover her frown.

All the top ascendants had eyes and ears around their competitors. Two brand new capital ships, especially tempests, which were extremely rare inside Nyon's fleet, couldn't be hidden. There was no doubt both Alarak and Ji'nara knew about them, but Nyon still announced it openly. He was basically warning them not to try any tricks because he was tougher than they might expect.

"Congratulations. Any plan to challenge someone?" Alarak said mockingly and glanced at Ji'nara.

The Fifth Ascendant frowned. Her ship count grew as well. It went from 102 to 109, but it was no match for Nyon's fleet. Alarak saw that frown and smiled. This way it was pretty much impossible for Nyon and Ji'nara to form a small alliance in this already small three-ascendant alliance to stand against him.

"Why do you think Highlord Ma'lash summoned us?" Ji'nara changed the topic. "Is there another message from our god?"

"I didn't sense anything when I was under the blessing of the terrazine." Alarak replied. "It can be related to the pieces of the Keystone that we were ordered to protect."

Nyon slid his finger down his cheek thoughtfully.

Suddenly, the door of the chamber snapped open, and Ma'lash walked in. Even from a distance away Nyon could still sense the scent of terrazine on him.

"Warriors of Amon. Hear me!" The leader of the Tal'darim protoss got straight to the point. "The creation of god is under attack! The Queen of Blades have gathered the mightiest of the Swarm against us. Typhon XI has already fallen. The Tal'darim on that planet have been sent back to the void. Following two of the fragments, the third one has been desecrated."

"That's strange. He wasn't as enraged when the first two pieces were lost." Alarak whispered in confusion.

If Jean was here she would know why. Raynor's attack and possession of the first two fragments was planned. Narud wanted that to happen and Ma'lash knew it. The Highlord sent those fragments out of the protection of the Death Fleet and into the hands of weaker ascendants so they could be taken away. It was all part of the plan. But this third one was a surprise, and this was bad. It might just wipe out Narud's, and Amon's, plan. The Tal'darim needed to do everything to not only secure the fourth, and last, piece of fragment but also take back the third.

"Recall all Tal'darim ships. The Death Fleet will march on Sigma Quadrant at once. After we secure the last piece of the artifact, we will enter swarm territory. The Forged will burn every zerg in our path until the Queen of Blades shows her face!"

This was no longer an order. This was a decree. Every Tal'darim, no matter what rank he is or what his situation is, had to obey. Even if an ascendant was about to behead a Daelaam high templar in just a second, he needed to give up and warp away. The nature of this command led Ma'lash to turn to his nemesis, only to find the First Ascendant not present.

"Where is Nuroka?" He demanded furiously.

The top ascendants exchanged a look. Just as Ma'lash was about to rage, Nuroka walked in. He didn't look well. His armor hung unfittingly on his body. His red eyes were dimmer than usual. He reeked of terrazine.

"First Ascendant! I summoned you in the name of Amon! Failure to arrive is punishable by death!" Ma'lash ignited his blade at once. "Give me one reason I should let you live."

"Amon…" Nuroka glanced at the bane blade for a second before suddenly snapping awake. "I have a supplicant army of over five thousand warriors. They only obey my command. Killing me means killing them. You can't afford it, at least not with the Queen of Blades approaching."

Ma'lash groaned. He swore if this was another chance and he caught Nuroka making a mistake like this, he would no doubt use it as a reason and strike him down, no matter the cost, but he couldn't do it now. If he killed Nuroka here and now, he would need to spend his own warriors to kill all of his supplicants. It would take time and manpower, neither of which he could afford.

He put down his blade.

"Serve Amon well in combat, and your transgression will be forgotten. Fail to do that, and I will not be as merciful…" He trailed off with his casual threat. Nuroka nodded and returned to his seat. Ma'lash turned to his ascendants. Already, countless light beams were dropping on the ground. Every light beam meant a Tal'darim warriors who has returned to their homeworld.

"Ready yourselves. War is here, and only the strongest may live to serve Amon."

* * *

The full might of the Death Fleet assembled at Slayn. Apart from a couple warriors left to guard several important mining and terrazine planets, every single Tal'darim warrior and ship was here. As all the fleet lords assembled, the overall ship counted reached the height of 1100.

For a race whose skills with manufacturing was limited to making modifications to captured vessels and weapons, this meant capturing 1100 enemy ships. This was the result of countless millenniums of plunder. Ever since they were first taken away by Amon, even before they reached Slayn, they have been looting other protoss factions. This structure has a fatal mistake. If the existent fleet is wiped out, the Death Fleet might never be rebuilt again.

For centuries the Death Fleet was scattered around the sector with each fleet lord leading a portion. Some grew. Some died. Assemblies like this was rare because if the Tal'darim were defeated here, the whole Tal'darim society would be at risk.

But Ma'lash didn't care. He felt Amon's rage coursing through his veins when he was soaked in terrazine, and he knew how furious his god was. As the Highlord, Ma'lash's loyalty to Amon was infinite. He knew Amon would slaughter the Tal'darim after the final victory instead of making them hybrids as he had promised, but he didn't tell a single soul about this. Why he did that was still a mystery, but his loyalty to Amon was unquestionable.

"All ships of the Death Fleet, warp to Sigma Quadrant at once!"

As of the moment, all the members of the blood council assembled at Highlord Ma'lash's mothership. Countless zealots formed hundreds of squares on the platforms in space in front of them. Their blades yearned for enemies' blood. Slayers tapped the metal floor restlessly with their metal limbs. Havoc beeps added to the chaotic surrounding. The Highlord was using the time in warp space to rouse up the morale of his men.

But unlike the common foot soldiers, Alarak wasn't excited. As Ma'lash cheered his warriors, Alarak psionically made contact with Ji'nara and Nyon.

"I don't like this."

"What's the matter? You're worried that this victory will strengthen Ma'lash's rule?"

"Don't play games with me, Ji'nara. You know exactly why." Alarak groaned impatiently. For once he didn't have the patience to toy with others. "Don't tell me this magnificent portrait has fooled you. The Death Fleet is more vulnerable than you think."

Ji'nara frowned. It was true. Out of the 1100 ships, a large portion of them were destroyers. Destroyers had relatively little armor and shield. More importantly, if Kerrigan was here for a fight, she would be backed up by the best of the swarm. The Death Fleet would be severely outnumbered. Even if they win, they would never recover from the casualties for centuries.

"Perhaps you're right, but perhaps this can be an opportunity." Nyon suddenly said, half ignoring Alarak's warning.

It was true. If the Death Fleet was defeated, Ma'lash's power would dwindle, but so would the forces of Nyon, Alarak, and Ji'nara. However, if he could play this carefully...oh how he wished he had one Jean Turner beside him. If she was here, she would no doubt give him a way to come out on top…

Suddenly, he felt a device attached to his armor sending him a psionic notification. He frowned. It was from Jean. He turned around and glanced at Ma'lash, making sure he wasn't paying another attention, before walking down the platform and into a corner. He made sure no one was watching before turning on the device.

He wasn't satisfied when he saw the hologram projection of someone who wasn't a human blonde.

"Six Ascendant Nyon." The mechanical purifier on the other side said quietly.

Nyon's eyes narrowed. "Identify yourself, protoss." A hint of fear appeared in the back of his mind. This communication device belonged to Jean. He has just talked to her a few days ago. If this unknown, odd looking protoss holds this device, then how did she get it and what happened to Jean?

"Let me introduce yourself. My name is Delta. I am an ally of Jean Turner. That makes us allies."

"I have never heard anything about this."

"Jean told me everything I need about you. You two first met on Xil, where she took the second piece of Keystone fragment from you. Both of you sent a strike team into a broken xel'naga temple, but Jean's forces came out on top. You were engaged in battle with the Queen of Blades and you were forced to leave. No one could've gotten information this detailed unless someone who was there told her that."

"When did I meet Jean on Slayn?" Nyon demanded.

"You two have never met on Slayn. Jean told me the last time you two met, you raided a Daelaam research facility and seized all the ships from the local Daelaam fleet."

"How many ascendants did I send to protect Jean?"

"You sent blood hunters, and they were sent back to you after saving someone under Jean's orders."

"You have proven your identity." Nyon finally nodded. "Contact Jean. I need her advice."

"She is unavailable right now, but I can help." Delta promised. After all, she and Jean were practically one and the same. "I have a fleet with me."

"I don't need a fleet. I need advice." Nyon groaned. "Unless you have enough ships to take down the Swarm and the Death Fleet, your forces are of no use to me."

Delta didn't feel insulted. "Explain the situation."

Nyon struggled to control his anger as he, as calmly as possible, informed Delta what the situation was.

"Kerrigan has led the Swarm to Sigma Quadrant in hunt for the last piece of artifact? Ma'lash has led the Death Fleet there to meet her and take back the artifact she took?" Delta's mechanical eyes started turning as her CPU was turned to its full efficiency.

"Give me the map of the Tal'darim territories with the influence of all the ascendants." Delta turned back to Nyon. "You're right. I don't have the ships to cut into the fight between the Tal'darim and the Swarm, but didn't you say all the Tal'darim forces left for the Sigma Quadrant? I have more than enough to ravage through the soft underbelly of the Tal'darim. Of course, I will leave your territory untouched."

Nyon's eyes lit up as he realized what the female protoss was suggesting.

"And when the Death Fleet conquers the Swarm, Highlord Ma'lash will return to a world on fire. His fortress, his planets, his shipyards...they will all be in ashes. Without a world to fall back to and having lost most of his forces against the Swarm, Ma'lash will be more vulnerable than ever. The other ascendants will be weakened as well, and I will easily ascend to the seat of the Highlord."

"Assuming the Tal'darim survives the fight." Delta suddenly rained down on Nyon's grand plan. "The Swarm is not an easy foe. Kerrigan's power is unchallengeable. I doubt if even the full power of the Death Fleet can truly defeat the Swarm, much less retrieve her piece of the artifact."

Delta's first priority was more power. To do that, she needed to complete the mission, which was to terminate Amon. Unfortunately, Amon was in the safety of the void, and he has influence over almost half of the factions in the sector. One of them was the Queen of Blades.

Delta knew she needed Kerrigan to be purified. For one thing, she was subtly influenced by Amon in her current version. For another, the current Queen of Blades wasn't easy to work with. Her list of allies she betrayed went from Fenix to Mengsk to Raynor and then back to Fenix again. She only became one of the good guys and learned to stop killing those on her side after she was purified. In this aspect, she needed to be turned back to human form.

Of course, Amon would later use Kerrigan's essence to come back to the material world, but that should be solved by a surprise assault on the Hyperion after the battle of Char and before Narud could sneak the now fully charged artifact away. This was still a long way away, and thinking about that now would be pointless.

This meant Raynor must hold all the artifact pieces, which meant the Death Fleet must not only hold its line against the Swarm but also defeat it. Delta doubted that would be possible. The Tal'darim simply didn't have the numbers. Even if she didn't lay a finger on their homeworld, the Tal'darim's ability to replenish their forces was still next to zero.

Perhaps in the first fight, the Tal'darim could take out half the zerg fleet with the cost of one tenth of the protoss one, but as long as Kerrigan got away, she might return after a few days with a brand new fleet. Maybe in the second day, the Tal'darim lost another twenty percent of their ships and wiped out two third of the zerg fleet. Maybe this would repeat for a few more fights, and for every one of them the Tal'darim would come out ahead.

But eventually, one day, the Tal'darim would find themselves at their lowest point, and they would still be facing the full power of the Swarm.

The Death Fleet, the Forged, would be wiped out.

Delta couldn't allow that. She, Jean, didn't spend so much time on Nyon and help him rise to power just to see him die along with the rest of his kin.

For a moment Nyon's pride made him want to execute the female protoss talking to him for undermining the power of the Forged, but he controlled it. "It's impossible. The Tal'darim…"

"You have neither the resource nor the manpower to fight a drawn out war against the Swarm. According to my simulations, you will likely lose."

Nyon remained silent. He didn't want to believe it, but both Alarak and Delta said this, and he couldn't help but to wonder. As much as a defeat would weaken Ma'lash, Nyon couldn't really command the Tal'darim if there was no Tal'darim alive. "What do you suggest?"

"Combine all your ships and launch an attack. Defending is the worst thing an army can do against the zerg. Kerrigan can sit back and spawn and launch wave after wave of attack at the defenders until the defenses eventually crumble. You need a precise, combined strike to invade the Swarm territories, destroy their hatcheries, and shut down their production. After that, destroying the zerg fleet shouldn't be hard. Without her swarm, even Kerrigan can't take on the Death Fleet alone."

"Highlord Ma'lash will not agree to this."

Delta's plan meant evading the Swarm's main forces in exchange for attacking their territory. This would likely be seen as a sign of weakness. Ma'lash was a zealot. Even if he understands this plan was the best for the Tal'darim, he might simply refuse to use it.

Delta didn't have a good solution for that either. There was no way she could control Ma'lash's actions.


	81. Chapter 81

"The Tal'darim is going to war with the Swarm?" On the planet of Umoja, in a private mansion, Jean sat with her legs crossed. In a pad in front of her, Delta was speaking.

"We need the Tal'darim to win, but my simulations say the Tal'darim will lose and we don't have the forces to interfere."

Even at this point, after all the planning and conquering, Jean's forces were still limited. Her capital ship count included one Cybros, twenty-seven battlecruisers, and two carriers. Her Purifier mining bases across the sector were already set up, and the first wave of carriers have been started, but these capital ships would take quite a while to complete, especially since the probes on each of those bases were limited and were spread between mining and manufacturing.

These ships couldn't stand long against dozens of leviathans, thousands of corruptors, and hundreds of thousands of mutalisks and scourges. This wasn't Jean's fault. After all, both the Swarm and the Tal'darim had thousands of years to build up their forces, and Jean has had a couple months. Still, just because it wasn't her fault didn't mean Jean didn't have to find a way around this.

"If we can't fight the swarm ourselves, then we go to someone who can." Jean tapped her chin. "The Umojans. They took severe losses at the hands of the infested terran. The infestation is put down, but the dead can't be revived. Every Umojan family has lost someone or knew someone who lost someone. They are scared and angry. I can use this fear and convince the Umojan Ruling Council to launch an attack on zerg territories. It will be a stab in the back. The majority of the Swarm will be at Sigma Quadrant. They will not have enough forces to defend."

"You can also hire mercenaries. Unfortunately, with their leader dead or heavily wounded, Raynor's Raiders will not be able to participate in this fight."

Both Jean and Delta knew Raynor was attacked by someone from his side during the battle of Tyrador IV. They didn't know it was Viper and they had no idea if Raynor survived, and neither of them really cared. When Jean first arrived, Raynor was important to her plan. She was alone and weak and she needed his forces and influence to build up her own power. However, things have changed. Jean has her own fleet and her own allies. Raynor's relationship toward Kerrigan and his role in the war against Amon could be useful, but he has become replaceable. He wasn't worth Jean to risk exposing her own identity to the Dominion to approach.

"Can we contact the Dominion?"

Despite the risks, the Terran Dominion was stronger than any of the Umojan Protectorate, the Kel-Morian Compound, the Moebius Corps, the mercenaries, and Raynor's Raiders, and maybe all of them combined. If Jean could convince the Dominion to launch an attack on Swarm planets, the Dominion Fleet could no doubt punch through and deal massive damage. After all, they already have a fleet around the planet of Char. Under General Warfield, it had some of the largest ships in the Dominion. Even the Swarm couldn't take the Dominion Fleet, the Umojan Fleet, and the Death Fleet at the same time.

"Running simulations now."

Delta stared blankly into a distance. A while ago, she has developed the idea to run simulations on certain topics. For example, when she was talking to Nyon, she took the time to enter all the information she had on the Death Fleet and the Swarm, type them into an algorithm, and run hundreds of simulations on what the result would be if the two forces were to clash. In that case, the Death Fleet would be the one defeated in almost all of the simulations. In this one, Mengsk would refuse to make a move.

It wasn't a surprising result. Mengsk, to a degree, needed the Swarm. It was the constant threat of the Swarm that convinced the common Dominion people and soldiers to allow Mengsk to hold absolute, unchecked power. Whatever Mengsk did, whether it was taking out his political enemies or increasing military funding by cutting civil ones, could be justified in the name of security. If the Swarm got wiped out, people would demand a cut in military forces and an increase in civil rights. This was terrible for Mengsk's dictatorship.

"Negative. Simulations suggest Mengsk will not deploy his fleet toward the Swarm. He might even attack whoever attacks the Swarm."

"Then we will have to stick to the Umojans. You proceed with your plan with the Tal'darim. Hit and run. Never engage the main Tal'darim ships unless you have to."

"I understand." Delta stood there for a few seconds. "There is another faction we can use."

"Explain."

"The Golden Armada."

"We have no connection with the Daelaam protoss."

"It's worth a try. We can send an unanimous message to the Daelaam protoss. Even if the Daelaam doesn't send out the Golden Armada, this decision will not hurt our plan."

Jean nodded.

* * *

Once again, Jean met up with the Umojan Ruling Council.

"Attack into the Swarm?" Jorgensen rose his eyebrows. This girl talking to him was a special kind of crazy. There were only cases in which the Swarm attacked someone else. Perhaps someone has invaded Swarm territories before and lived to tell the tale, but Jorgensen didn't think the Umojan Protectorate was qualified to be one of such factions.

"The Swarm is a constant threat over the safety of our people. We have to face them sooner or later, and it is much wiser to face a Swarm whose forces are tied up fighting another alien race than to face the full might of the Swarm alone."

"You talked about war between the Swarm and another group of protoss, the Tal'darim." Another senator spoke up. "Is this source reliable?"

"Yes."

"We don't have the ships. If we pull too few ships into the expedition, then we will be overwhelmed by the Swarm. If we pull too many ships, then the Dominion and the Kel-Morian will use this opportunity to strike us down." Admiral Thorn approached this field from a tactical perspective. As a military commander, he understood the benefits of attacking the zerg. In fact, everyone did, but the idea of attacking a menace who has haunted the sector for years was enough to make most people shy away from the most logical option.

"We can send out a small number of ships and buy mercenaries to add to the firepower. Critical planets like Char will undoubtedly be heavily guarded by orbital defenses and the flyers Kerrigan left behind, but most of the other planets will be defenseless. If we take them out, we can greatly weaken the combat potential of the Swarm. Do enough damage, and the Protectorate will be free of Swarm threat for months." Jean persisted.

"This is a necessary action."

Jorgensen turned to his fellow senators. "We need a distraction." He said plainly.

The Umojan political system was as close to democracy as terran factions in this sector get. The common people had a substantial amount of power and voice. While the Warden units did stop the infestation, the Umojan Ruling Council was still constantly criticized for not reacting quick enough and not being able to prevent the massive casualties. At a time like this, a crushing victory against the Swarm could shut most of the questioning voices up.

The senators nodded in agreement, and it didn't take them long before agreeing with the expedition.

Eventually, the size of the invasion force was set at five fleets, sixty battlecruisers. A fleet of twelve support ships, ravens and science vessels, provided all the technological support the Umojans might need. Six squads of liberators, as well as 20 squads of vikings and 20 squads of wraiths, were added to the mix. An army of thirty thousand strong made up the ground forces. Thirty thousand men was nothing compared to the Dominion forces, whose planetary defensive forces were counted by ten thousands and whose main armies were in the hundreds of thousands, but all of the Umojan units had advanced equipment and weapons that made them as efficient as possible.

Overall, this fleet was nowhere near the strength of the Death Fleet or the Swarm, but it was large enough to function as a blade Jean jams into the back of Sarah Kerrigan.

It took the Umojans a few days to get all the ships and men ready for the expedition. Under Jean's advice, an army of two thousand Warden units, mostly marines and marauders but also siege tanks, was added to the mix.

After eight mercenary battlecruisers and three thousand mercenaries gave it a final touch, the Umojan Fleet, under the command of Admiral Thorn and with Jean aboard, departed from their homeworld and marched into the gates of hell.

* * *

Daelaam airspace. Shakuras.

"Hierarch, we have received a transmission from an unknown source." A phase smith entered Artanis' battle chamber and reported.

"Show me." The Daelaam leader replied, giving a polite nod to the low level engineer. The phase smith gave Artanis a transmission device and left the chamber to the protoss leader himself.

The transmission was from a terran source. An unknown person informed him that the Swarm was at war with the Tal'darim. Most of her forces were gone, leaving her territory vulnerable. If the Daelaam attacked now with the full might of the Golden Armada, the Swarm would be defenseless.

The hierarch closed his eyes and psionically connected to the phoenix closest to zerg territories and issued a command. As the phoenix started moving, Artanis started thinking.

This was too good to be true. Artanis wasn't convinced. He had no idea where this message came from and what the one who sent this message to him wanted. As far as he knew, maybe when the Golden Armada was busy plundering zerg territories, another enemy fleet would jump in and attack Daelaam territories, which is now made defenseless. This might be a conspiracy against the Daelaam.

Plus, even if this wasn't a conspiracy against the Daelaam, whoever sent this message was using the Firstborn as a tool. A weapon.

But just because he knew the Daelaam was being used didn't mean he could just forget about this intel and do nothing. Sarah Kerrigan and the Swarm was a major threat to the Daelaam protoss. The Queen of Blades has the blood of countless protoss on her hands. The Swarm turned the protoss race from the Firstborn of the gods to a bunch of fugitives forced to flee their homeworld. If he had an opportunity to end the filthy zerg race, he wouldn't hesitate.

"Hierarch," In the khala, the scout reported back. "the zerg world is clear. I am being pursued by mutalisks, but zerg corruptors and leviathans are nowhere to be seen. I have went through multiple zerg infested planets. It's the same on all of these planets."

"I understand, Warrior, warp back to safety now. You have completed your mission."

"By your orders, hierarch."

Just to be safe, Artanis sent out several other groups of scouts, including dark templars in cloaked corsairs. The result was the same. Zerg worlds were getting more and more empty, and a few dark templars reported seeing Tal'darim forces massing around the Sigma Quadrant around an abandoned Xel'naga worldship.

There were few factions in this sector that deserved the full attention of the Death Fleet, and the Swarm happened to be one of them.

"Summon the twilight council." The hierarch finally ordered. "I have something to say."

* * *

Char.

Above one of the largest leviathans in the zerg fleet, Kerrigan watched as the last of the Dominion bases on the ground was overwhelmed. Bunkers were set aflame and were torn apart before they could burn down. Siege tanks fired futilely, dropping dozens of zerg with every shot, but they simply didn't have the numbers to change the outcome of the battle. Dropships, hercules, and medivacs evacuated what was left of the ground units, but they were intercepted by large numbers of mutalisks and corruptors. What was left of the Dominion vikings did their best to push the zerg back, but even these fighters were constantly bombarded by spore crawlers on the ground. Countless terran flyers exploded into balls of flames in the air.

It was a full retreat by the Dominion. It didn't take long before the Dominion fleet collected what was left of the Dominion ground forces and warped away back to safety.

Kerrigan laid back on her throne. Even from orbit, she could hear the screams of the men on the ground. Those screams soon quieted down as infestors crawled around, turning the dead Dominion soldiers into infested terran units.

"My queen, I don't understand." Behind Kerrigan, Zagara spoke up with the signature screeching voice of zerg queens and broodmothers.

"Speak." Kerrigan was in a good mood, and she was willing to enlighten her foolish child. After all, it made her seem smart.

"Char is a fortress. The terran have no chance against us, but this attack was already the fourth attack the Dominion has launched against us. We repealed them all four times. Tens of thousands of terran were killed. These terran don't stand a chance against us, but they are still attacking. Why? Is it because the Dominion commander is foolish?"

Kerrigan smirked. "I have heard a lot about General Warfield, and he might be the smartest commander in the Dominion. He is anything but foolish." She paused as if remembering something. "But he is loyal, and he is trusting." She stood up. "Warfield is the commander here, but Mengsk gave the orders to attack."

"I don't understand. Arcturus Mengsk is the leader of the Terran Dominion. Why would he sacrifice his own soldiers for no reason?"

"No reason? That's where you're wrong, Zagara. No matter how foolish it seems, Mengsk always has his reason." Kerrigan's eyes turned cold as she remembered her past experience with Mengsk. "Within a few hours, every news broadcast in the Terran Dominion will be talking about the successful attack the brave troopers of the Dominion launched on Char. Although the Dominion forces were eventually forced off the planet, they fought bravely and killed countless zerg. This would be one step closer to the extermination of the zerg threat."

"Those who were sent here to die will be branded as heroes. Their sacrifice will inspire the rest of the Dominion to give themselves for the cause, Mengsk's cause. Young men and women will join the Dominion military. Anyone who questions Mengsk will be deemed traitors and backstabbers. Mengsk can justify the expensive army and fleet he maintains and the heavy tax he placed on the people to support these forces. The people will believe Mengsk is protecting them, and they will obey his every command."

Zagara remained silent for a minute. "I don't understand." She repeated.

"Good." Kerrigan stood up. "If you do, I might have to kill you. I can't allow a conspirator in the Swarm." She suddenly lost interest with this conversation. "Is my fleet in place?"

"Yes, my queen. Eighty leviathans are in place. We need only your command."

"Very well. All leviathans, set the coordinates for Sigma Quadrant." Kerrigan's eyes turned purple as she psionically issued the order. As all the leviathans complied, the Queen of Blades turned to Zagara.

"Zagara, you will remain here on Char. I don't think Warfield will make a move on my absence, but I am still leaving one tenth of the Swarm here. If anyone attacks, pull back to Char and use its orbital defenses to fend off the intruders. As long as Char is in our hands, I can rebuild my army in a few days."

Zagara bowed down.

"Your wish is my command, my queen."


	82. Chapter 82

Even thousands of years after they were wiped out, the Xel'naga still dwarfed even the most advanced protoss technology. The Xel'naga worldship in Sigma Quadrant was the prime example. Despite being destroyed and abandoned for god knew how long, the worldship was still larger than anything both the protoss and the zerg could hold. Even now, the worldship was large enough to hold half the Death Fleet on it.

The last piece of artifact was sealed inside a vault at the center of the worldship. Thousands of photon cannons were warped into the field. Orbital cannons circled around the vault.

All across the worldship, more than two million Tal'darim units, from the most basic zealot to the most advanced wrathwalkers and motherships, readied their weapons. Zealots and slayers formed squares of one hundred by one hundred. Havocs stood in front of every line. Wrathwalkers stood tall. Ascendants stood in front of their supplicant forces. Their body radiated crimson void energy. The full power of the Death Fleet rested in the sky. Bloodshard crystals were constantly placed in maximum power so the pilots could turn on their weapons as soon as possible. Sure, this might increase the risk of the vessels exploding without even meeting the zerg, but none of the Tal'darim gave a damn.

Every single one of these Tal'darim was eager for combat.

They weren't disappointed.

Forty leviathans exited warp space.

"Those who serve Amon shall ascend into hybrids! Forward! For Amon!"

Highlord Ma'lash drew his blade and screamed. Immediately, the full might of the Death Fleet left the worldship and did a short distance jump. The next second they were in front of the Swarm.

There was no word exchanged. No talk of peace was said and no compromise was attempted. Both side wanted a piece of Keystone fragment from the other side, and neither was willing to give their own piece up.

Corruptors, previously attached to the leviathans, let go of the capital ships and swarmed forward. Hundreds of thousands of mutalisks and scourges poured out of every opening of these leviathans and formed a cloud of purple.

"Go on, my children, and tear them apart. In the name of the Queen of Blades."

Kerrigan whispered, and the Swarm flyers charged fearlessly at the dark red protoss ships.

Motherships fired with no concern of conserving energy. Terminator beams swiped over zerg units, taking out dozens of them with every move. All of the zerg units present were the best of the best, yet no amount of armor could save them from their demise.

"Warriors of Amon, follow me and seize the enemies' throne! Your Highlord wants the Queen of Blade's head!"

Scourges crashed into the mothership. The first one hundred had little effect. The first one thousand...still had no effect. The first ten thousand had some effect, but all the pilot of the mothership did was turn the ship's terminator beam around, and half the scourges were melted.

The countless queens aboard the leviathans responded immediately, and all the scourges spread out, but that didn't help either as individual suicide bombers couldn't break through the mothership's shield. If they tried to converge and strike a single point, they would be gunned down in a few waves of bombardment.

All across the field the Death Fleet was breaking through. Mutalisks that already got outside the leviathans were gunned down faster than they could be replaced. Scourges were capable of dealing great damage, but they were too fragile.

Leviathans were targeted by the thousands of destroyers in the Death Fleet. These anti-armor vessels were practically designed for this occasion. Corruptors moved to counter them, but they were transformed from the savior to the one that needed saving when the destroyers turned their guns toward them instead.

Countless zerg exploded into balls of flesh every second. Dozens of Tal'darim balls of flame were mixed among the zerg ones, but they were insignificant in terms of numbers. Most of the cases, the Tal'darim flyer's plasma shield protected them from glaive worms and spores and saved them from demise, at least for the moment.

Zerg units didn't have such a luxury.

"My queen, we have lost one percent of our light flyers."

"Deploy reinforcement. Keep the Death Fleet here." Kerrigan didn't seem bothered. "Have we located the artifact?"

Along with all the mutalisks, the Swarm launched thousands of overseers. Hundreds of them were shot down every second, but a couple of them made it to their destination, the Xel'naga Worldship. After all, Kerrigan was here for the artifact. Banging the Swarm against the Deatl Fleet was just a side benefit.

"Yes, my queen."

"Then launch our drop pods." Kerrigan looked at outside. More zerg reinforcement were sent into the field, and all of a sudden protoss casualties grew. She saw a destroyer getting smashed into by at least fifty scrouges. The shield gave out, and a squad of three corruptors finished the job. Distinctly, she could sense the Tal'darim pilot perishing in the blast.

"But, my queen, our drop pods can't make it through the Tal'darim fleet. We will lose a significant number of them in the air." The queen warned.

"With all the flyers, leviathans, and transports, the Death Fleet can't stop us all. We can reach the ground with acceptable losses. Obey me."

At this point, Kerrigan was still the cruel, merciless queen who took pleasure in death and betrayal, even if those killed were her own. As long as she could get the job done, she didn't give a damn about the casualties. It was only when she was turned to human and then back to zerg again did she learn to value the lives of her underlings a bit. As of now, all the zerg were chess pieces to her.

The Swarm queen had no choice but to obey.

The zerg psionic network delivered the order to every zerg unit in just seconds. Ground units, from the most basic zergling to the largest ultralisk, quickly but efficiently entered drop pods. Some of the drop pods could hold dozens of zerglings. Some were filled with a single ultralisk.

In a single wave, thousands of drop pods were projected at the Worldship.

Ma'lash and the rest of the Tal'darim high command noticed it almost immediately. In a war like this, everyone knew what everyone else was doing. Just like how overseers covered the field, so did observers. While the basic Tal'darim smirked upon the idea of scouting, neither Ma'lash nor the top ascendants were exactly stupid. Observers were deployed even before the Swarm arrived, and they were paying off.

"Intercept them! Burn them in their transports! Make these drop pods their tombs!" The Highlord ordered cruelly.

"Our fighters are mixed with the zerg. We don't have the firepower." Nuroka replied coldly. He wasn't afraid of reminding Ma'lash of his mistakes. "We need to hope the warriors on the ground can hold the zerg back until we achieve victory."

Ma'lash suddenly thought of something. He smirked viciously and turned to Nuroka.

"First Ascendant." He whispered quietly, and Nuroka suddenly had a bad feeling about this. "As the second smartest protoss in the Tal'darim, you certainly understand the importance of the artifact fragment on the ground below."

Nuroka frowned. Ma'lash was...complementing him? This is _bad_.

"In that case," Seeing no response from Nuroka, Ma'lash continued. "First Ascendant, I order you to return to the Worldship with your supplicants and defend it at all cost. Abandon your position, and I will have your head."

"How dare you…" Nuroka's eyes widened in rage. For a moment he wanted to strangle Ma'lash.

Ma'lash's command sounded like a legitimate order, but it wasn't. In the Tal'darim world, strength meant a lot of things, including armies, weapons, and higher social status, and the best way to show his strength would be making conquests in battle. This was a perfect opportunity. They were fighting against a powerful enemy to protect the work of god. Every Tal'darim was watching, and those who fought bravely would be rewarded by utter glory.

But at this time, Ma'lash was ordering him to return and defend the artifact. _Defend_! As important as the mission was, the common Tal'darim warriors wouldn't care how long he protected the artifact for. They would only wonder how many zerg Ma'lash has slain and how many ships he has taken. When the battle ends, Ma'lash would return home as a hero while his greatest competitor would get nothing. It would pretty much eliminate Nuroka's ability to challenge Ma'lash.

Even at this point, the Highlord was still seeking to protect his power.

Yet Nuroka couldn't do anything but obey. Ma'lash issued the order as the Highlord, and it was a valid one. If he said no, his reputation would be damaged even more.

"As you wish, _Highlord_." The First Ascendant emphasized on the word 'Highlord' before turning and leaving.

Ma'lash nodded in satisfaction. He turned and glanced at Third Ascendant Zenish, who dodged his glance. The Third Ascendant was a supporter of Nuroka and therefore a threat to Ma'lash, and the Highlord wondered if he could make the Third Ascendant fall in battle, but he quickly decided it wasn't his top priority.

"Prepare to project power fields!" He turned to the ascendants. "Return to your ships and ready your supplicants. As the strongest among the Tal'darim, we will spearhead the charge on the leviathans. The victor will be rewarded by Amon himself and the loser will lose everything. May the strongest live!"

The Ascendants nodded and warped away in beams of light.

When Nuroka reached the ship, the first wave of the zerg drop pods has landed.

The leviathans launched nearly two thousand drop pods in just the first wave. On average, each of them had twenty zerg inside. This meant forty thousand zerg. Despite the mutalisks' attempt to provide some cover, half of these pods didn't make it past the Tal'darim flyers. After all, apart from their speed, these transport pods were completely defenseless. A single scout could blow it up with the first pair of torpedoes and a single phoenix could take it down in a couple seconds. When what was left of the pods emerged from the smoke, the field of battle was already covered by clouds and clouds of floating zerg. Most of these zerg were still alive, thanks to the zerg's nature of radiation resisting, but without gravity, they simply floated around aimlessly. Occasionally an ultralisk would slam into a scout or a baneling could smash into a phoenix and make a scourge jealous, but most of these ground units were doomed to fall.

Meanwhile, the rest of the pods that survived the fighter onslaught found themselves facing a sea of orbital defenses. Orbital cannons took out several pods at once. The zerg inside didn't even have a chance to fly around as they were obliterated along with their transports.

As the pods got closer, photon cannons started unleashing. The bright projectiles lit up the dark sky and took out a drop pod with every two shots. They were weaker and less accurate than orbital cannons, but their number made up the difference. When a thousand photon cannons were firing at once, even if only one fifth of them hit their target, at least one hundred pods were destroyed with every round.

Thankfully, the zerg didn't have to take this kind of abuse for long as the pods finally hit the ground. Not-so-thankfully, the ground wasn't exactly safer than the air.

Zealots charged into the drop pods before the units inside could come out. Following the sound of blades igniting and cutting through carapace and flesh, the zealots would emerge, fewer in number but victorious. The zerg inside these pods were the lucky ones. At least they had a chance to fight back. One of the drop pods barely hit the ground before it suddenly exploded. On the ground, an ascendant flickered his fingers in boredom.

What were left of the landing parties tried their best to put up a fight, but that was why Nuroka came in. The First Ascendant let off all his frustration and hatred against Ma'lash onto the Swarm. Backed up by thousands of elite zealots, slayers, ascendants, and blood hunters, the First Ascendant launched himself into a group of hundreds of zerg. A couple drop pods landed at a remotely close area, and the units inside were able to wipe out the squad of zealots that approached and establish somewhat of a defensive position. A couple drones, fatter than normal ones, even mutated into spine crawlers.

But the effort of these zerg was futile. Nuroka himself charged into a hydralisk and cut it into four pieces. A spine crawler poked forward, but Nuroka merely took a step back and dodged the shot capable of ripping a marine into two with a single attack. Having missed, the spine crawler tried to retreat, but Nuroka swiped his blade, and the spine part of the spine crawler was cut clean off.

As the spine crawler collapsed and died, Nuroka's eyes turned purple, and a wave of destructive energy wiped over the area in front of the First Ascendant. Every zerg in the vicinity was ripped apart.

Supplicants followed on and cleaned the floor.

The first wave of Swarm, roughly 400,000 of them, were slaughtered to the last, but was that the end?

The answer was a solid no. In fact, it was just the beginning.


	83. Chapter 83

Inside her leviathan, Kerrigan's expression didn't change as she sensed the last ultralisk being cornered and dissected by a bunch of blood hunters. That marked the end of the landing party.

"My queen, the protoss are warping in onto our leviathans."

Aboard one of the outer leviathans, a power field was generated. Hundreds of supplicant zealots were warped in.

The broodmother inside the leviathan reacted as soon as possible. Every zerg inside the ship converged on that location, but when they arrived, they found themselves facing an army couple times their size.

Thanks to the modified power fields, the Tal'darim units moved from the motherships to the leviathans in just seconds. By the time zerg arrived, the Tal'darim already had hundreds of zealots, half that number of stalkers, ten ascendants, two dozen blood hunters, half a dozen vanguards, and one Highlord.

"For Amon!" Ma'lash screamed and tossed forward a psionic orb, roasting every single zerg in its way. When the orb disappeared, all the hydralisks, zerglings, and banelings were fried. Only roaches and ultralisks were still standing.

The supplicants used this opportunity to charge forward. Countless zerg fell at their feet. Roaches were blasted to pieces by vanguards' whose scatter cannons not only melted the roaches but also burnt holes inside the leviathans. An ultralisk launched forward like a wild bull, but a cloud of smoke appeared on its back, and the next second the assault beast was cut in half by a void blade down its body. Above his corpse, a blood hunter smirked and blinked away.

The leviathans were literally a zerg fortresses. Swarms and swarms of zerg came out of all the thousands of breeding chambers and spawning pools and charged upon the protoss, but although the halls of the leviathan were wider and taller than that of battlecruisers, they still couldn't fit tens of thousands of zerg. Most of the Tal'darim could attack or at least contribute to the battle in some way shape or form while 99% of the zerg were forced to stay back and watch.

All across the field, leviathans were being assaulted from the inside. In one leviathan, Alarak crushed an ultralisk. In another, Nyon crushed an infestor and sliced his way through the crowd of infested terran that crawled out of the dead zerg.

"They don't have the numbers." Kerrigan merely replied before turning her attention back to the situation on the ground.

After the fall of the first wave, the second wave was quickly launched. This time, these forty thousand zerg lasted a bit longer. The third wave established somewhat of a defensive position. Around ten thousand of them converged and formed a single wave. Their mission was to hold their ground until more reinforcement arrive. They only had to hold for a couple minutes, but even those couple minutes were made impossible when twenty thousand Tal'darim swept across the field and killed every zerg on the ground.

Seeing the casualties, Kerrigan merely smirked.

"Something's not right." Nuroka frowned as he beheaded another hydralisk. He briefly connected to the protoss tactical network and glanced at the battle situation. He wasn't too satisfied to see what happened.

The zerg were being slaughtered. Their advantage in numbers was nowhere to be seen when they landed among two million Tal'darim with groups of forty thousand or less. It was futile and meaningless. Kerrigan was a great leader and a smart tactician. She shouldn't be doing something like this.

Nyon remembered going over the intel on the Swarm before this battle. The Swarm unit count was put around ten trillion.

1,000,000,000,000.

What does ten trillion mean? The entire Tal'darim population was around 14 million. This meant every single Tal'darim had to kill 71,400 zerg to completely wipe out the Swarm.

If Kerrigan piled on even half of those ten trillion units, she could cause some serious mayhem, but she kept on sending small squads of forty thousand units down. Why?

If the Queen of Blades was waiting for her flyers to break through, it wasn't working. Swarm flyers were being beaten down by the Death Fleet. Phoenix chased down mutalisks. Destroyers melted corruptors. Scouts took on leviathans. Carriers built and deployed interceptors like crazy. There wasn't enough Swarm units in the field to overwhelm the full might of the Death Fleet.

Another wave of roaches and hydralisks charged forward. Nyon frowned and ignited his blade again. As suspicious as he was, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't just go to Ma'lash and tell the Highlord to pull back because he, the Sixth Ascendant, had a bad feeling about this. He couldn't exactly call Jean or Delta either, not at the heat of the battle. Since there was nothing he could do anyway, he might as well use the time to kill some more zerg.

The fighting continued. At one point, when the tenth wave of landing parties was wiped out, Kerrigan suddenly turned to her queens.

"Now, proceed with the plan."

All of a sudden, the leviathans, previously staying back and passively functioning as fire support and unit producer, moved forward. All of their weapons were turned to the maximum power, and countless spores, big and small, were thrown toward the Death Fleet. Fresh flyers entered the battlefield in tens of thousands.

The Death Fleet was taken by surprise. Whether because of some tactical reasoning or because he was just pissed off at the zerg, Ma'lash sent out most of the flyers he had as soon as the battle started. He wanted to crush the Swarm in one swift assault. This meant the Death Fleet was constantly having the Swarm at the edge of defeat, but it also meant after hours and hours of extensive combat, these flyers were exhausted. Their energies were used up. Their shields were depleted. Some of their hulls were damaged. This became more of a problem when the zerg sent out fresh troops. The new zerg flyers, with full health and in their prime condition, swept across the Death Fleet. Hundreds of Tal'darim ships exploded before the Death Fleet could put up some formal resistance.

Inside the leviathans, the boarding parties were facing counter attacks as well. The seemingly depleted ground forces were reinforced by not only ultralisks and infestors but also elite units like hunter killers. Banelings rolled toward the boarding parties. Most of them were picked off on the way, but some made contact, and the result was the shrinking in size of almost all of the parties. Infested terran were tossed out of the infestors, and they immediately opened fire.

"It's a trap!" Having been with Jean for so long, Nyon was quite smart. Then again, if someone couldn't realize this was a setup by now, he needed to be extremely stupid.

"The Queen of Blades held back most of her forces and pretended to be weaker than she really is! She wants to lure us in and take us out!" Ma'lash ripped a zergling into two like the beast was a sheet of paper. "The Forged! Hold your ground! Kill every single zerg that comes at us!" He unleashed a psionic storm into the incoming zerg reinforcements and charged forward. None of the thousands of zerg in front could stop him.

The Death Fleet retaliated after a few brief moments of shock. Tal'darim pilots held their ground until the last moment so they could contribute to the battle by taking down one more zerg. Carriers emerged from behind the cover of the Death Fleet and used its destruction beams to punch hole after hole among the zerg flyers. Everything, from the basic scourges to the larger corruptors, were reduced to ashes.

Heavy casualties were taken by both sides. Every second, dozens of protoss and hundreds of zerg perished.

"Launch all reserves. Send in everyone!" Ma'lash pushed forward even more and ordered. Almost immediately, red warp beams covered every inch of the leviathans covered by power fields. Thousands died before they could even open their eyes, but more arrived in one piece. There were plenty of zerg, but there were countless protoss as well. Millions of protoss, previously on the Death Fleet vessels, were dumped onto the floating zerg cities like a flood. The sea of red gradually overwhelmed the mountain of purple. Ironically, the Swarm was swarmed.

Meanwhile, as countless warriors on both sides fought and died in the battlefield in space, one of the leviathans quietly deviated from the main zerg fleet. Instead of engaging the Death Fleet, it was descending on the worldship.

Orbital cannons smashed into the beast's armored underbelly and tore it open, but the leviathan went closer and closer to the artifact nonetheless. Photon cannons started unleashing as well. At first they targeted the leviathan itself, but they quickly turned their attention to the drop pods that were recently unleashed. Send out closer to the ground, these pods could reach the ground with less casualties than the pods before.

"Ma'lash is a fool!" On the worldship, Nuroka groaned as he looked into the burning sky. "He has the full might of the death fleet, and he still can't keep the zerg from this platform? So much for the blade of Amon." Ma'lash was gifted the name Blade of Amon for his ruthlessness in battle and his ultimate loyalty to Amon.

The supplicant forces around Nuroka didn't say anything. Nuroka turned his neck slightly. "Prepare for battle. Ma'lash is weak, but we are not, and we will slaughter the invaders to the last."

Hundreds of drop pods hit the ground, and zerg poured out. Zealots charged forward fearlessly, but they were hit in the face by hundreds of modified banelings. Screams covered the battlefield as nearly a thousand zealots were melted by banelings with more blast radius and blast damage than the normal version.

This didn't stop the other Tal'darim from charging forward, but the loss of the first wave of zealots opened up an opportunity for more zerg units to come out. Countless ultralisks stepped over zealots and slayers. Vanguards covered the field with scatter cannons, but without support, they were quickly overwhelmed by thousands of elite zerglings.

Thanks to how short the distance was between the leviathan and the ground when the pods were launched, most of the drop pods were close to each other. This meant the zerg landing parties could easily converge and form a real army.

Even worse, the leviathan was continuing with its suicidal charge. Instead of futilely fighting back against the orbital defenses, the zerg capital ship simply took the beating from the defenses and kept on bombarding the protoss forces on the ground. Spore crawlers and spore cannons uprooted and crawled to the bottom and the side of the leviathan. At this close of a distance, these air to air weapons weren't bad against ground targets either. Slayers and vanguards were blasted apart by spore crawlers and wrathwalkers were targeted by spore cannons with larger calibers.

"Focus fire on that ship!" Nuroka screamed as he pointed at the leviathan. The capital ship was getting closer and closer to the ground. It was mortally wounded, but it was still splitting zerg on the way down.

"It's going at the vault!" One of the supplicant ascendants suddenly realized, and he was right, but there was nothing he could do. All that could be done was already done, and they weren't enough. The leviathan crashed into the vault, slid over, knocked over an orbital cannon and three photon cannons, and came to a screeching halt.

The leviathan was several kilometers long. It was literally a flying city. It was so big it crashed hundreds of zealots and slayers on the way of sliding. The orbital cannon that was in its way was uprooted and destroyed.

The ship was down, but the leviathan held a million or so zerg aboard. A large portion of them was dropped off, but the rest were still on the ship and have survived the crash landing. Their zerg nature protected them from enough impact that could rip a human being apart. Almost as soon as the capital vessel hit the ground, they poured out.

Normally half a million zerg couldn't take on two million Tal'darim protoss, but these weren't just any zerg. The Queen of Blades planned and loaded up this leviathan especially for this occasion. She even kept this leviathan in the back of her fleet the entire time the Swarm made contact with the Tal'darim so it wouldn't be boarded. Not only so, the leader of the Swarm added a few more surprises into the leviathan.

A slayer strided forward, firing as it moved, but the next second a giant beast charged out of a hole on the leviathan's side. The slayer's particle disruptor beam bounced off its armor and didn't even make a dent. The beast stepped on the slayer. The slayer had its phasing armor on, but the beast crushed it nonetheless. The phasing armor didn't even protect its user for a single second.

"What is that foul creature?" One of Nuroka's ascendants gasped. Even someone as good as he was shocked.

If Jean was here, she would recognize this beast as a brutalisk. Brutalisks were enhanced versions of ultralisks with tougher armor, greater size, the ability to spit acid so high and so strong they could melt flyer armor, and a pair of claws that could rip through almost anything. They were extremely expensive and took a long time to be bred, and even in the swarm they were rare. However, Kerrigan was willing to spend the few she had here.

Nuroka didn't recognize the unit, but that didn't stop him from ordering the attack, especially in a time like this when he couldn't afford to wait. Already, countless zerg were pouring out of the grounded leviathan.

Nuroka had no choice. Whether he was loyal to Amon and Ma'lash or not, he needed to make a stand here, or else all would be lost. He drew his blade. Supplicant forces converged behind him.

"Warriors of Amon, protect the vault with your life! For Ma'lash! For Amon!"


	84. Chapter 84

A brutalisk leaped forward and landed on a vanguard, crushing the strider with the maimed driver inside.

"We are the blade of death!" A squad of zealots performed another round of suicide charge at the brutalisk, but the beast literally ignored them. The zealots' puny bane blades had next to no effect on the zerg unit dozens of times their height. Even if a zealot's blade was completely submerged into the armor of the brutalisk, it wouldn't make it through the layers and layers of armor.

The zealots screamed in ultimate rage, but their screams came to an end when a dozen banelings crashed into them.

"Weaklings! Move aside and observe the true strength of the servants of Amon!" An ascendant stepped forward. The brutalisk was powerful, as shown by the sea of broken armors it left behind, but the ascendant subconsciously believed it was nothing but a beast. It had some strength, but when someone reached a certain level of psionic power, they could kill those who relied on raw physical strength with ease, or so the ascendant thought.

As the two hundred zealots and slayers in front of the brutalisk moved to the side, the ascendant smirked and threw a mind blast onto the brutalisk.

Nothing happened. Well, that wasn't exactly true. The brutalisk tilted his head, but that was it. The beast continued moving forward, hitting a slayer on the way and reducing it to a pile of glowing remain.

The ascendant groaned as he felt the mocking look from the other ascendants and, most importantly, Nuroka. His heart fell. As a lower ascendant, he could do nothing against Nuroka. If the First Ascendant felt like he was too weak to serve, Nuroka might send him and his supplicants on a suicide mission just to get rid of them.

His eyes burned. He turned to one of his supplicants.

"Prove your worth to me."

"For victory!"

The supplicant zealot screamed before exploding into a ball of pure psionic energy, which merged into the supplicant's body. The ascendant stretched his body, feeling the additional strength. He turned to the brutalisk again, with renewed confidence.

Crimson void energy formed within his grip. The ascendant slashed down on the brutalisk, which was already too close for comfort. None of the Tal'darim foot soldiers could stop it. A wrathwalker fired a shot of energy bolt at the brutalisk, but the beast deflected it with its frontal armor. The wrathwalker never had the chance to fire again as it was engulfed by a cloud of scourges. At that situation, the wrathwalker's height became its biggest weakness.

Void energy landed at where the brutalisk was and exploded, crushing everything within its proximity, protoss or zerg. Countless swarm units that used the brutalisk as cover had the worst day of their short lives as they were fried completely. Some Tal'darim fell as well, but none of the Tal'darim ascendants batted an eye. If these Tal'darim couldn't even survive the shockwave, they didn't deserve to be alive.

As the prime target of the attack, the brutalisk took the brunt of the damage. Every single cell in the beast's body was mutilated. Dozens of meters of armor were penetrated. The beast that took down line after line of elite Tal'darim warriors collapsed.

The ascendant smirked, slightly relieved, and took a step back. As the hero for the moment, he could gain a lot of this encounter, and the reward was certainly worth a single supplicant zealot.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking.

The Tal'darim ascendants turned and found two dozen brutalisks charging out of the grounded leviathan, crushing everything in its way, whether they were zealots, slayers, vanguards, or wrathwalkers. Nuroka saw a low leveled ascendant consume the essence of three supplicants zealots and fry nearly a thousand zerg, but a brutalisk jumped on the exhausted ascendant and sliced him into two with a single strike.

The Queen of Blades has given everything she had into this attack.

At this point, Nuroka was considering other options. The Death Fleet has successfully held its ground against the Swarm, but it took heavy losses, and victory would take time. Nuroka had no doubt Ma'lash would do everything he could to not send reinforcement onto the platform until he, Nuroka, was dead. Unfortunately, if Nuroka held his ground like a good Tal'darim, that time wouldn't be far away.

The Tal'darim outnumbered the zerg with over two to one, but the zerg had much higher quality. Infestors trapped zealots in place with fungal growth. Without their agility, the experienced Tal'darim warriors were sitting duck. Infested terran modified to explode on impact with the enemy added to the power of the banelings.

The Tal'darim were doing their best to hold their ground, but their lines were continuously punched through. Orbital defenses started falling to the ground. The Swarm was getting closer and closer to the artifact fragment.

If he was still the loyal ascendant, then he would've held his ground and gave his life if necessary, but he wasn't. Just before Ma'lash recalled the entire Death Fleet and launched the crusade against the Swarm, Nuroka has peaked into Amon's mind under the blessing of the terrazine, and what he saw shocked him.

Amon never intended on making the Tal'darim hybrids. When the war against life was won, all the Tal'darim would be terminated, along with the rest of the sector. The Forged would never have a chance of ascendant.

Amon betrayed every single Tal'darim. Why would Nuroka fight and die for him?

"Supplicants, follow…"

Suddenly, Nuroka sensed dozens of powerful entities appearing on the platform. He frowned. He didn't know anything about this. He had no idea if these newcomers were friend or foe. If they were foes, the Tal'darim would be in a worse situation than they were already in. If they were friends, the tide of war would certainly be turned, but Nuroka had no idea who they might be.

The next seconds dozens of void rifts were opened up on the worldship wreckage.

Dozens of hybrids emerged. One from each rift.

The Tal'darim has seen hybrids before. In fact, they viewed hybrids as a more noble servant of Amon then the Tal'darim were due to their prowess in combat. When Ma'lash commanded as the Highlord, he promised the Tal'darim as long as they served Amon, all of them would eventually become hybrids. To the noble templar, the fate of becoming a hybrid was a disaster. To the Tal'darim, becoming a hybrid meant having more power. It was a blessing, and Amon denied them even that.

"Amon has sent his servants to aid us! Forward! For victory!" Nuroka immediately changed his tone. It was almost impossible to see a couple seconds ago he was planning on fleeing the battle.

Across the battlefield Tal'darim warriors cheered and slashed down on their enemies with twice the speed and strength. A few ascendants went into the field themselves and led their supplicants with them. These powerful warriors launched multiple counterattacks and pushed hole after hole among the Swarm lines.

Despite only having dozens of numbers, hybrids changed the battle as soon as they met the zerg. Reavers ripped open everything in their way. Only brutalisks and ultralisks could delay them. Smaller units, like zerglings and banelings, were stepped over. Banelings exploded, but the corrosive acid were deflected by the reaver's heavy armor. Roaches and hydralisks were ripped apart. Just like baneling acids, roach corrosive saliva and hydralisk spines did little damage.

More importantly, whatever damage that was done was rendered useless. One of the reavers was a bit too aggressive, and it soon found itself in the middle of a sea of zerg. Spines and salivas did little damage individually, but when these attacks were in the thousands, they could stack up quite the hurt.

Faced with a near impossible situation, the hybrid screeched, and blue life force left all the zerg units around them. The hybrid's wounds were healed as the zerg units collapsed. They weren't killed at the moment, but the hybrid reaver was more than happy to change that. Having lost a large portion of their life, the zerg were paralyzed and practically defenseless.

Reavers did a ton of damage, but they didn't have the numbers. Dozens of them were insignificant among the swarm and swarm of zerg. Even if every single one of them could slaughter three thousand zerg, there would still be ten times the zerg ready to fight. What really made the table turn were the hybrid destroyers. These psionically enabled hybrids had plasma shields and the ability to use void blast, but their strongest weapon was their void energy.

One of the hybrid destroyers lifted into the air and held its claws out. Void energy concentrated, and the next second a storm of rogue void energy towered over half the zerg army.

The Tal'darim cheered as void storms ravaged through the zerg army.

Inside her leviathan, Kerrigan, who was observing the battle from the eyes of common zerg units, severed the link and turned to the queen beside her.

"Prepare for evacuation."

"My queen, there are around eight hundred thousand of your underlings down there. If we wait a few more minutes…"

"Those zerg are dead. Taking more risk and trying to save them is a foolish decision." Kerrigan closed her eyes. Even from orbit she could sense the power of those mysterious creatures on the ground. She had no idea who they were, but she did know they were powerful. The Queen of Blades hated to admit this, but if she was to take on a reaver in a one on one duel she might lose.

At this phase Kerrigan has never met a single hybrid. It was only when she attacked the Skygeirr Station when she learned of these weapons of Amon.

"Plus, this fight is far from over."

"As you wish, my queen."

The Swarm retreated. Leviathans prepared for warping. Tal'darim forces were still engaging Swarm units all across the Swarm fleet, but Kerrigan wasn't worried. Ma'lash wouldn't abandon millions of his own people. Even if he did, the Swarm ships could escape nonetheless with all the Tal'darim above. After disengaging the Tal'darim fleet, the Swarm could take their time in terminating the stranded protoss boarding parties. Even someone as reckless and zealous wouldn't make a decision like this.

Just like she imagined, every single Tal'darim still alive warped away, leaving behind millions of dead zerg and hundreds of thousands of armors and weapons.

In an almost simultaneous movement, the Swarm fleet warped out of Sigma Quadrant.

On the ground, zerg after zerg fell. Purple blood stained the ground. The survivors formed lines of defense around the grounded leviathan, but the Tal'darim and the hybrids pushed forward. Having won over the war against the Swarm, the Death Fleet descended upon the sky. Destroyers focused their firepower on the leviathan and made a barbeque out of it. Reinforcements who didn't have a chance to feast on the blood of the zerg during the previous engagement were sent down here. As soon as they arrived, they launched themselves at the zerg.

Burtalisk after brutalisk fell beneath the feet of the Tal'darim.

A squad of zerg queens tried to turn the tide, but they were soon relieved of their command in the worst way possible as they found themselves surrounded by dozens of blood hunters.

Finally, ten minutes later, the leviathan was completely melted, and all the zerg were slaughtered.

Nuroka turned off his blades. When the situation was clear, he charged head on into combat to earn himself some fame. Suddenly, he heard Ma'lash talking to him inside the comm.

"First Ascendant, secure this platform with your supplicant forces. The rest of the Death Fleet have something much more important to attend to."

"What?" Nuroka frowned. The Death Fleet just lost a large portion of its ships and warriors against the Swarm. The wisest thing to do at this point would be to pull back and regroup. "Against whom?"

"The Swarm. The Queen of Blades has just been defeated. If we strike now, we can take her out and retrieve the artifact fragment in her possession. For the First Ascendant of the Forged, you seem unbelievable short sighted."

Nuroka turned furious. "I can be of great use!" It was already bad enough that he was left out of the most intense combat. Now he was ordered to sit back while the Death Fleet ravage through the zerg territory and seize the prize?

"That is an order, First Ascendant. If you resist, my blades will teach you the folly of your way." Ma'lash threatened before shutting down the comm from his side.

Nuroka finally backed down. His fists clenched tight as the millions of Tal'darim and dozens of hybrid on the worldship were warped away. When the light beams stopped dropping down, only the First Ascendant's thousands of supplicants were surrounding the vault.

Meanwhile, inside the bridge of the Tal'darim mothership, Ma'lash met up with his top ascendants, except Nuroka, of course. The Highlord told his best warriors the plan of attack.

"Our phase smiths have traced the zerg warp signals. All ships are entering the coordinates now. We will enter warp space immediately. The Queen of Blades will never expect this. We will exit warp space right outside their base. This will give us the element of surprise."

Protoss technology was unbelievable advanced. For instance, by checking out captured technology and adding in some of their own insight, the Tal'darim phase smiths were able to develop a type of warp space-tracking technology. It was still at its early stages. Tracking an entire fleet of dozens of capital vessels was easy. Tracking a smaller fleet or individual ships was impossible. Thankfully, it was helpful in this circumstance.

Suddenly, one of Ma'lash's supplicant ascendants walked in.

"Highlord, we lost contact with our warriors posed on Sia II, but before we did, the warriors sent over this message."

With a single nod from Ma'lash, the ascendant took out a projection device and turned it on.

Inside the projector, a small fleet of yellow ships descended from orbit. Those ships were protoss, but they weren't exactly the same as the Daelaam ones. The types were the same, but both the color and the details were different.

One of the ships in the small fleet was a mothership. The giant capital ship's energy was charged up, and seconds later the hologram went dark. The source of this video was already terminated.

Most of the ascendant frowned, but one of them was faking it. In fact, Nyon was satisfied. He recognized the ships to belong to the same protoss that was allegedly allied to him and Jean, and this Delta was keeping up her part of the deal.

Sia II was one of Ma'lash's most important mining planets, and it has obviously fallen. If Delta kept this up, Ma'lash would get weaker and weaker.

Ma'lash realized that as well. He turned to the other ascendants.

"Before we strike down the Swarm, we need to deal with these pathetic thieves…"


	85. Chapter 85

"Highlord, we shouldn't be distracted by a few insignificant thieves. We can take them out after we wipe out the Swarm and retrieve the artifact." Alarak said viciously. His idea sounded reasonable, but it was actually a trap. If Ma'lash didn't do anything about the mysterious protoss fleet and allow it to do whatever it wanted, then he would take heavy losses at home. If he abandoned the quest and went back to Tal'darim airspace to protect his planets, then he would be failing the mission Amon gave him.

Ma'lash took pride in being the most dedicated servant of Amon. Alarak intended on using this against him. Loyal? Fine. Ma'lash could prove his loyalty by sacrificing his own forces.

"Don't try to fool me, Alarak." Ma'lash tilted his head threateningly. "If this protoss fleet is not dealt with, then sooner or later we will all be under attack. It is in our best interest to take this fleet out."

"As you wish, Highlord. We should dispatch a fleet of our own to deal with them and keep our main forces dedicated to the fight against the Swarm." Alarak suggested. Despite his opinion against Amon, he agreed with Ma'lash in that the destruction of Tal'darim planets wasn't good for any of them.

"But who should we send?"

All of a sudden, the Tal'darim from all three sides realized this could be an opportunity. Whoever was sent to chase down the intruders would have a perfect opportunity to sabotage their enemies. For instance, if Alarak led the fleet, he could step in when his or Ji'nara's planets were threatened and be "too slow" when Ma'lash's territory was attacked. Even more, almost all of the Tal'darim combatants were on the mission against the Swarm. The fleet sent back to Tal'darim airspace would be the strongest power for quite a while. Once again, if Alarak led the fleet and he decided to take some risk, he might attack a planet that belonged to Ma'lash with his supplicant forces. As long as he left no survivor and jammed the communication in time, no one would ever know this happened. Even if Ma'lash had suspicions, he wouldn't have the evidence to pin Alarak down, and everything he did could be seen as an attempt to eliminate potential threats.

"Highlord, my fleet is beaten up while fighting the Swarm. It will be best if I return to Slayn..." Zenish suggested, but he was immediately cut off.

"Third Ascendant Zenish. You are one of my best warriors. Your presence is needed at this important moment." Ma'lash stopped Zenish without a second thought. Zenish was allied with Nuroka. Ma'lash would be a fool to send him back.

After saying no to Zenish, Ma'lash turned his attention to Guraj. The female ascendant served him loyally, and if he sent her back, she would no doubt eliminate the combat potential of all of the other ascendants, but Ma'lash knew others would reject this idea. At this time of crisis, even the Highlord couldn't risk alienating all of his high ranking commanders.

"Highlord," Suddenly, Ma'lash heard someone speaking. He looked up and saw Nyon. "Highlord, I am willing to return to Slayn and hunt down those pathetic intruders."

The Sixth Ascendant said confidently.

All the other ascendants, even the cunning Alarak, saw this hostile fleet as a chance to attack other ascendants, but Nyon saw differently. He saw this as a chance to get out of the Death Fleet and therefore evade the mission of hunting down the Swarm.

Something was wrong with the battle against the Swarm. Kerrigan's attack just seemed...off. It was as if she wasn't even trying. Sure, she played a slight trick and made the Death Fleet underestimate the Swarm unit count and used it as an opportunity to launch a surprise attack, which almost broke through the Tal'darim defenses and put the artifact fragment into the possession of the Queen of Blades, but that didn't change Nyon's opinion.

Something just felt wrong. It was strange to think the Queen of Blades was stopped this easily. This was someone who played almost all the factions in the sector against each other and rose from an infested terran to the controller of billions of zerg. What she did was...mediocre at best.

The other ascendants, even the brute Guraj, might have sensed something was off at the first part of the battle, but their confusion was gone after Kerrigan launched the counterattack. As far as they could see, the situation was simple. Kerrigan played a trick and failed, and now she was forced to fall back, regroup, and make another attempt later. Now was the perfect chance to launch a counterattack and defeat the Swarm once and for all.

But Nyon sensed something was not right. Maybe it was his experience with Jean, maybe it was something else, but Nyon learned never to underestimate anyone. He learned to always plan for the worst. Attacking into Swarm territory now would be a whole lot of risk and little reward. Even if the Death Fleet was victorious, most of the fame would be granted to Ma'lash.

On the other hand, if he returned home...he was literally the ally of the intruder he was sent to hunt down. If the two could work together and coordinate their movement, they could end up with quite the reward.

Nyon stepped out without hesitation.

"Sixth Ascendant. Your bravery is admirable." Ma'lash wasn't willing to give up such a good opportunity, but he quickly realized he couldn't really use this to his advantage, not with all the ascendants from the other sides watching. Plus, the more time he wasted here talking, the more likely the Queen of Blades could get away from the original coordinates where she came out of warp space. It would be difficult to hunt her and her piece of the artifact down if that was to happen. The Highlord continued.

"Bring your supplicants. Your fleet has to stay here and strengthen our forces against the Swarm, but you can choose two fleets of ships to come with you."

This was to limit Nyon's threat. Twenty four ships were more than enough to hunt down three intruder ships. Even if the intruders hid some of their ships, Nyon should be able to handle them. With only twenty four ships, if Nyon betrayed Ma'lash, he wouldn't have the manpower to do too much damage.

Nyon obeyed and backed off, and Ma'lash turned to the other ascendants.

"Prepare for warping! Today is the day the Queen of Blades dies!"

Outside, millions of Tal'darim cheered.

* * *

Meanwhile, at a distant edge of zerg airspace, a small Umojan fleet was moving.

"Admiral Thorn, we have located another zerg infested planet." An officer at the bridge saluted and reported to his commander.

"You know what to do." Admiral Thorn replied casually. If it was a few days ago, when the expedition fleet just departed, he might speak a few words of encouragement or something, but after dozens of almost identical missions, he no longer felt special about these tasks.

The crew members acted expertly. Lieutenants shouted out orders. Before long, a wave of wraiths were launched out of three of the leading battlecruisers. They cleared out whatever overlord or mutalisk the zerg had in orbit. When the threat was cleared, four defenseless and expensive ravens finally came out of the protection of the terran capital vessels. It didn't take them long to create a scan of the entire planet.

Everything about the zerg was sent into the bridge, including the location of their hive clusters, where most of their forces were, and where most of the resources were.

Three battlecruisers came down from orbit and dropped a dozen nuclear missiles onto the planet's surface. All of them landed in areas with high zerg density. The millions of degrees of thermal energy melted every piece of zerg in the wave of the blast. Just the nukes alone took care of most of the zerg on the planet. Unlike Stukov's infested forces which had the tactical support of Jean Turner, the zerg on this planet didn't expect this attack. Most of the hive cluster's units were non-combatants. The only broodmother, the vast majority of the queens, most of the flyers, and all of the stronger, more evolved units were sent to Char to join Kerrigan's armada. Those that were left were too weak to be included. Even worse, the local zerg were crowded together so they could use their numbers to defend the incoming threat.

The lack of command and the terrible tactical decision made these zerg suffer a vastly different fate than Stukov's forces.

Following the bombardment, one of the battlecruisers landed on the planet's surface and unloaded five hundred Warden units, including Warden SCVs, Warden marines, Warden marauders, and the newest version of Warden siege tanks and Warden goliaths. Covered in the Umojan white painting and being distinguished by blue "W" symbols on their chest plating, these Warden units moved across the planet, tracking down and exterminating the zerg that survived the flames. The ravens provided whatever intelligence support this strike team needed. Within an hour, every significant zerg unit on the planet was gone. There were still thousands of drones and zerglings scattered throughout the planet, burrowed, but they were insignificant.

As the combat units were on the extermination mission, the Warden SCvs started putting together a base next to a location where the minerals were the richest. Bunkers and missile turrets were created. Both the missile turrets and the automated turrets mounted on the bunkers were linked to the Warden security network. When the Warden combat units returned, they reinforced the position with siege tanks and other units inside the bunker.

The Warden units would be here for quite a while. The only reason why Thorn and the Umojans were here was to do as much damage to the zerg as possible and try to limit their unit count. The best way to do that was by taking down their mining planets. Without the resources, the Swarm couldn't gather up the numbers that made them so terrifying.

But simply killing the zerg on sight didn't mean anything. If left unchecked, a single zerg drone could be turned to an entire hive cluster in just days. The best thing to do would be leaving outposts at the planets they conquered and shut down the zerg expansion before they could become a threat.

But Thorn didn't want to just leave Umojan squads behind conquered planets. Unlike mindless zerg and zealous protoss, terran soldiers didn't really want to be stationed in the middle of nowhere for god knew how long and be constantly worried about getting attacked and wiped out by aliens. Plus, if these middle of nowhere were in fact inside zerg space, those men might straight up hop on a transport and desert. If Thorn gave strict orders for them to do so, there was no telling what these men would do.

This made Thorn flinch from his plan. The Terran Dominion could control desertion by killing everyone who deserted. The righteous Umojan Protectorate couldn't do the same thing.

That was when Jean stepped in. Once again, she reminded him of the presence of the Warden units.

Warden units were machines. They won't get bothered by fear or loneliness. They could be the best sentinels of the Umojan Protectorate in the heart of their enemies. Even if they were hopelessly outnumbered and surrounded with no way out, they could still put up a good fight until the end.

Under Thorn's command, the manufacturing systems inside the Umojan fleet worked full time on constructing Warden units. These newly built units were almost immediately sent down to newly conquered planets.

Jean was only glad that happened. The Umojans weren't stupid, and they certainly had their computer engineers review the Warden codes, but she also knew there was no way they could find anything. She was right, as shown by the fact that she was still a partner of the Umojan Ruling Council acting as an advisor in one of its fleets rather than a prisoner.

This also meant all the Warden units were still under her control. A single order from her could turn them from the faithful watchdog of the Umojan Protectorate to their destroyers.

Suddenly, another officer walked up to Thorn and Jean.

"Admiral, our scouts have reported back on the motion of the Queen of Blades."

After entering zerg space, Thorn sent out countless light fighters as scouts to keep an eye on the activities of the Swarm. The Umojan's whole mission was based on the knowledge that the Queen of Blades was busy fighting the Tal'darim.

The moment Kerrigan comes home would be the time the Umojans get the hell out of there.

Thorn's expression changed. He took over a tablet and turned on the transmission.

"This is Admiral Thorn. Soldier, report."

"Admiral, the Swarm is back!" The pilot on the other side was a female wraith pilot. Her tone was full of fear. "I see at least sixty leviathans. Oh my god." She exclaimed.

The pilot turned tapped a few keys and connected Thorn's pad with the wraith's camera. Jean poked her head out from behind Thorn. She could sense the admiral's hand grip tightly onto the pad he was holding.

There were countless zerg. Leviathans. Corruptors. Mutalisks. Jean couldn't even see an end to the swarm simply because the amount of zerg almost covered every inch of the camera. Leviathans blocked out the sun. Every single one of them was kilometers long, and just a single glance on these beasts could send chills down a man's spine. Thorn's reaction was only reasonable.

Beside Thorn, Jean was confused. They were ready for war, which was odd because they should've just came back from a fight from the Death Fleet. They should be bruised and battered and licking their wounds. Jean's mind turned.

It seemed like the Queen of Blades was smarter than she pretended to be.

"Come back here at once, soldier. We are leaving." Thorn turned off the pad as the soldier saluted. The commander turned to all his crew members. "Recall all fighters. We are leaving. Our work here is done." There was no way the tiny Umojan fleet could challenge the Swarm. With only sixty battlecruisers, the Umojans could be wiped out by a couple leviathans.

"And the Warden units?" An officer asked.

"Leave them. Their presence will distract the Swarm and buy us some time. We don't have the time to go back and pick them up either."

Jean suggested. If the Umojan Fleet went back and picked up all the Warden units and brought them back, it would add thousands more units to the Warden unit count. It would be good, but from another perspective, if these Warden units were abandoned, Jean could convince the Umojan Ruling council to spend more funding and build more Warden with the zerg threat as the reason. Plus, with all the enemies at hand, the Swarm would likely be too occupied to claim those lost land, and the Warden units might be able to live long enough and establish bases and built more units.

Jean was a greedy girl.

Thorn glanced at Jean and nodded. As the Umojans prepared to leave, Jean went outside the bridge, found a corner, made sure she wasn't watched, and turned on the communication with Delta.

"The Death Fleet is in trouble."


	86. Chapter 86

"Clear the bridge." Nyon ordered as his two fleets exited warp space beside Slayn. This was an odd order, but the supplicants obeyed without question. Before long, Nyon was the only living being in the bridge.

After routinely scanning through the bridge inch by inch, Nyon took out his communication device and made contact with Delta.

"You're on your lucky day, protoss." The Sixth Ascendant smirked when the image of Delta appeared. "It just so happens that we both need each other. I suggest..."

"Listen to me, Nyon. This is important." Delta quickly cut Nyon off. She didn't have time for this. "The Death Fleet has fallen into the Queen of Blades' trap." Jean told Delta everything she needed to know.

"What…" Nyon silently cursed. He tried to cover his shock. "How?" Deep down he knew something was off, but he just couldn't tell how or what. He had no doubt this Delta could clear his confusion.

"Our scouts have located a sizeable zerg fleet waiting in a location in the center of zerg airspace. It seems like they're planning for some sort of ambush. I'm sure I don't need to tell you who the target of the ambush is."

"Ma'lash...that fool!" Nyon suddenly remembered before he left, Ma'lash ordered the Death Fleet to locate the coordinates where the Swarm fleet warped into and chase Kerrigan down, but if what Delta said was true, the Death Fleet would be walking into a trap.

For a moment Nyon considered letting Ma'lash and the other ascendants perish, but he quickly shut that idea down. He didn't give a damn about Ma'lash, but if the entirety of the Death Fleet fell, so what if he could become the Highlord. He couldn't do anything with twenty four ships and a couple thousand supplicants.

"We need to save them out..." Nyon realized something. Perhaps the situation wasn't so bad after all. "All of the capital ships in the Death Fleet are equipped with warp drives. As long as Ma'lash can stand his ground for enough time to activate the warp drives…"

"Across this long of a distance, the warp drives need a lot of preparation before they can be used." Delta was telling from her own experience with Purifier vessels.

"But we have fleet beacons as intermediaries. As long as they are standing, the Death Fleet can warp to where the fleet beacons are and then retreat back to Slayn from there…" Nyon wasn't a phase smith, but he did know the basics.

"Fleet beacon. Singular." Delta cut him off again. "Your leader never considered the possibility of having to make a quick retreat. The only fleet beacon that can bring the Death Fleet back from zerg territory is the one on the Sigma Quadrant. Do you really think the Queen of Blades went through all the trouble to lure Ma'lash in just so she can forget about this critical detail? Put away your foolish hopes, Ascendant. If I can get this information, then so can Kerrigan."

"Nuroka can't hold the Sigma Quadrant with just his supplicants." Nyon realized. "What do we do?"

Delta tilted her head.

"Not we, you." She said slowly. "This is the day Ma'lash falls, but this is also the day you rise."

Nyon's eyes glared.

* * *

Zerg territory.

The entirety of the Tal'darim fleet that survived the battle at Sigma Quadrant emerged from warp space. Before the battle, the Death Fleet had around 1100 capital ships. Now it had less than a thousand. Nearly one tenth of the millennials of work was thrown away in just hours.

Still, it was a menacing force. Even after taking the losses, the Death Fleet could still overwhelm the Dominion Fleet. Ma'lash was confident that with the Swarm fleet maimed and the Queen of Blades sent fleeing with her tails between her legs, he had enough to make such a reckless decision.

He was wrong.

Inside her flagship, the Queen of Blades smiled. She showed no sign of someone who was recently defeated and chased home. Instead, she looked like a hunter whose prey has just fallen into her trap.

"These Tal'darim are brilliant warriors, but they are also terrible tacticians." Kerrigan said to herself slowly before turning to all her queens and broodmothers in the zerg psionic network.

"The time is now. Attack, and kill every single one of them."

"Highlord, it's a trap!" As soon as he saw the sea of zerg signals on the scanners, Alarak knew exactly what this was. He no longer had time to worry about being polite or thinking for himself. "We need to warp away now!"

Ma'lash looked around. The Death Fleet exited warp space in the middle of an ambush. Everything about this was designed. When Kerrigan ordered the retreat, she ordered the leviathans to warp to a designated location that was surrounded by infested orbital stations from all fronts. These infested platforms were covered by tens of thousands of orbital defenses. Apart from providing fire support, they offered a shelter to hold fleets and fleets zerg flyers. The amount of help these platforms could provide for the Swarm was impressive.

Apart from that, Kerrigan put her newly defeated fleet around the platform as well. These wounded flyers were joined by forty more leviathans which Kerrigan has kept hidden the entire time.

She had eighty leviathans when she made the decision to attack the Tal'darim on Char. She appeared in the Sigma Quadrant with fourty? Where did the other forty go? Here.

It was Kerrigan's plan from the very beginning. The cunning zerg leader did her homework and carefully studied not just the technology of the Tal'darim but also their social structure. Their arrogance and blind loyalty to their god could be proven useful, and they were.

Kerrigan knew Ma'lash would take some risk to retrieve the artifact fragment his god entrusted to him, and what better opportunity was there to attack than the moment after defeating the enemy fleet? It wasn't that hard for the Death Fleet to identify the coordinates Kerrigan's flyers jumped to and go to those exact coordinates and chase her down.

Everything, even the valiant attempt of the counterattack, was just to make Kerrigan's own defeat seem more believable.

And it worked.

Everything the Tal'darim were proud of was trapped between a hell lot of zerg.

Ma'lash groaned, but even his terrazine filled brain could recognize that this wasn't an even fight. All around the Death Fleet, dozens of platforms have already started splitting spores. Leviathans were approaching. Zerg flyers have already came out of both the platforms and the leviathans and were forming a literal cloud of purple in the gaps between the floating zerg fortresses.

The Swarm surrounded the Tal'darim from all directions, whether it was left, right, top, or bottom. There was no way out. Spores hit the Tal'darim vessels from every direction.

"We need to fall back and regroup. The Death Fleet is not at its peak power!" Guraj couldn't sit back either. The quiet ascendant had no choice but to speak up. This might contradict Ma'lash's will, but at this point Guraj didn't care. She wasn't his supplicant. She shouldn't pay for his foolishness.

After the battle at the Sigma Quadrant, the Death Fleet depleted most of its assets. Warriors were wounded. Ships were damaged. Shields were depleted. Interceptors needed to be rebuilt. Ma'lash ignored these issues and pushed the attack because he thought it would be a clean, quick victory where the Death Fleet swept the floor in a few hours of moderate leveled fighting. Fighting against an entire Swarm fleet in such an awkward position was a completely different thing.

"Prepare the warp drives. We will warp back to Sigma Quadrant at once." The Highlord ordered. If the Death Fleet stood, he could continue to serve Amon. If it fell, the true god would be quite disappointed.

"As you wish, Highlord." A supplicant zealot started working. On the outside, the Swarm flyers have already made contact with the outer shell of Tal'darim forces. Losses were taken on both sides, but it was the Tal'darim that took more damage.

Ma'lash didn't say anything as countless of his people fell. He didn't care about those on the outside. Those were expendable ships, piloted by low leveled Tal'darim ascendants who could be replaced with ease. The ships that were loyal to him and the other top ascendants were in the center of the fleet. As long as the Death Fleet could evacuate anytime soon, Ma'lash's ships could survive, and to the Highlord it was all that mattered.

However, the supplicant zealot soon delivered the bad news.

"Highlord, we can't connect to the fleat beacon on the Sigma Quadrant."

"How?" Ma'lash frowned.

"The fleat beacon must be destroyed…" The loyal zealot explained slowly, but that obviously struck Ma'lash's nerve. The Highlord's eyes glared, and he lifted the zealot into the air with his psionic power and slammed him into a wall.

"I know it must be destroyed! Do you think me stupid? I'm asking how the First Ascendant, with thousands of the best warriors of the Forged, can be wiped out without sending any warning!"

"We can't receive transmissions in warp space, First Ascendant might've sent a transmission..." The stubborn zealot continued. Bad idea.

Ma'lash screamed in rage and snapped the zealot's neck. As the kill was delivered, he took a deep breath. He knew the zealot was telling the truth, but he didn't care. He was in a bad mood and he needed someone to lash out on.

He couldn't execute his ascendants for such a puny reason, so the unfortunate zealot became the victim.

Alarak glanced at the zealot, was impressed by how stupid he was, before turning to Ma'lash. "We await your command, Highlord." He suddenly realized something. "Highlord, if the Sigma Quadrant has fallen, then the artifact kept there is in the hand of the Swarm as well!"

A strange look appeared on Ma'lash's face. "The artifact has not fallen." He replied.

Alarak suddenly realized something. "Highlord…"

"I had the artifact brought to me the moment it was put into the vault. The vault was empty the entire time. The artifact was on this ship since the very start of the battle."

Alarak realized what Ma'lash said and did, and he had to admit he was impressed. If both the Tal'darim and the Swarm thought the artifact was inside the safety of the vault, behind layers of orbital defense, then Ma'lash could get a lot out of this exchange. The Swarm would be focused on seizing the vault, distracting them from the real artifact, and Ma'lash was able to send Nuroka to that platform. With Nuroka gone, Ma'lash dispatched the First Ascendant's fleet to the most dangerous positions. They took heavy losses. That didn't matter, though, as the First Ascendant was likely dead by now.

Ma'lash didn't rise to his rank by being stupid. He did so by using every opportunity possible to enhance his power.

Still, that issue didn't matter anymore. If anything, Ma'lash's decision helped the situation.

Outside, the first layer of defense has already crumbled. Eight carriers were overwhelmed and destroyed. Thousands of phoenixes and scouts fell. Ma'lash knew he needed to do something quickly before too many of his forces were chipped away.

"Enter battle formation. Launch all fighters. Ready our energy field projectors and prepare our warriors for boarding."

"Highlord, we don't have the forces." Ji'nara couldn't help but object. If the Death Fleet had enough to beat the Swarm, then they wouldn't try to warp away in the first place.

"I'm not done yet, Fifth Ascendant." Ma'lash groaned. "All of you, ready your supplicants. I will communicate with the hybrids. As soon as it's possible," He walked to the window and pointed at the largest leviathan, which was leading the Swarm assault. "we board the zerg flagship and terminate the Queen of Blades."

It was not a bad idea. A straight up fight was impossible to win. Escape was impossible. The only thing left to do would be to take out the commander of the Swarm, hope the Swarm would be sent into a confused and leaderless state, and then either push forward or fall back.

All the ascendants nodded and departed.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Sigma Quadrant, twenty two carriers and two motherships jumped in.

"Nuroka is dead." The Sixth Ascendant smiled at the loss of his superior. After all, this made him the Fifth Ascendant.

What happened a few hours was a disaster for the protoss. When Nuroka's supplicants were busy cleaning up the mess of the previous bloodshed, two leviathans came out of warp space and unloaded one hundred thousand zerg on the platform in just a few minutes.

The Tal'darim were hopelessly slaughtered. Thousands of supplicants were spread across a battlefield that could hold millions, and before Nuroka knew it he lost half his warriors. Supplicants were the best of the best, but when one thousand zerg, including ultralisks, surrounded a single supplicant, most oftenly a supplicant zealot, the result was already decided.

Nuroka put up a good fight. Thousands of zerg perished with his every psionic storm. Ultralisks and mutalisks were ripped apart a distance away by mind blasts. A single cut from his blade could cut any zerg unit apart.

But none of his effort could change the inevitable. Thousands of spines slammed into him every minute. Banelings and zerglings did their best to close the distance. After the seventh ultralisk, Nuroka's shield fell apart.

Another spine hit him in the back. Nuroka screamed and melted the spine, as well as the hydralisk that sent the spine, as well as every zerg within a thirty meter radius of that hydralisk, but by the time that was done three more spines have pierced his body.

Nuroka considered running, but when he was sent to safeguard the vault he was stripped of all his ships. He still had his own carrier, but it was destroyed when an ultralisk bungee dropped on it.

At his last moment, Nuroka made one last try and attempted his emergency warping system. Unfortunately, the attempt was cut short when thirty banelings rammed into him, melting both his armor and his emergency warp drive.

The First Ascendant knew about Amon's attempt to take out the Tal'darim when he got his victory, and in the original history he would challenge Ma'lash. He would lose, but he would open up an opportunity for Alarak's eventual ascension.

Unfortunately, in this dimension, he never got as far.

The last Tal'darim fell before Nyon arrived. When the Sixth Ascendant got here, the fleet beacon was already no more than a few pieces of glowing wreckage.

"Wipe the zerg off this planet and prepare to warp in a fleat beacon on my command."

Nyon flicked his fingers. Immediately, the two Tal'darim fleets started striking down the two leviathans. Interceptors ripped apart flyers. Destroyers burned through the leviathans' carapace. Zerg tried their best to fight back, but just like the previous occasion, one side was hopelessly outnumbered, only this time it was the zerg that were bombarded and slaughtered.


	87. Chapter 87

Red Lasers and green spores were exchanged. Purple blood and red mist were spilled. Zerg ships and protoss ships alike were ripped to pieces.

Hundreds of thousands of spores were fired at the Death Fleet every second. They varied in size and origin, but all of them landed on some sort of Tal'darim vessel. Sometimes a shot from a large caliber spore cannon could obliterate a scout. Sometimes a shot from a small caliber spore crawler would land on a mothership and do nothing.

Power fields were projected. At where the power fields of capital ships couldn't reach, war prisms were deployed. To these transports, this was a suicide mission. Sure, they had phase cannons, giving them infinitely more damage than Daelaam warp prisms, but having the ability to fire didn't grant them extra shields. These prisms were agile. A few spore crawler shots couldn't do much, but when spores covered almost all of the space between the Death Fleet and the Swarm, there wasn't much maneuvering to do.

Thousands of prisms were sent out. When they reached the Swarm flyers, half of the prisms were gone. By the time the prisms entered phasing mode, another half of those remaining were gunned out of the sky.

The prisms that survived quickly deployed thousands and thousands of Tal'darim into the zerg leviathans. Initially, these Tal'darim boarding parties were overwhelmed near instantly, but the Tal'darim poured in endlessly, and eventually the zerg were beaten back. As the situation turned slightly safer, more expensive and more powerful units like ascendants and vanguards were sent in. Both effectively obliterated the resistance.

But both Kerrigan and Ma'lash knew the battle between the Death Fleet and the Swarm was just the background. The Swarm had a lot of firepower, but so did the Death Fleet. It would take them a while to reach an end, and the victor would take heavy losses even if they won. Both the Death Fleet and the Swarm had a lot of enemies. If any one of them lost too much of their fleet, the result could be full extermination.

That was why both sides wanted to use a decapitation tactic. Both wanted to take out the leader of the opposite side. Ma'lash knew it was the only hope the Death Fleet had, and Kerrigan knew, despite how successful her trap was, taking down the Death Fleet would be costly. The social structure of the Tal'darim meant they would fight to the death for their faith.

Thankfully, it also meant as long as she could take out the Highlord, the other ascendants might fall into chaos and disarray, allowing the Queen of Blades to take them out one by one.

That was partly why she took the risk by using her flagship as the spearhead of the Swarm. She wanted Ma'lash to make an attempt to kill her, which would allow her to kill him.

With Kerrigan's hidden intentions in mind, the leviathan flagship got close enough to the Tal'darim mothership. Ships from both sides steered clear of the enemy flagship in fear of scaring them back. As the leviathan and the mothership came face to face, Ma'lash gave the order to warp in. Before long, over twenty thousand light beams were projected onto the zerg city.

Most of the assault party was made up of Tal'darim, but the twenty figures leading the charge weren't Tal'darim.

Sharp claws. Blue carapace. Hybrids.

Behind the hybrids, Highlord Ma'lash, Second Ascendant Guraj, Third Ascendant Zenish, Fourth Ascendant Alarak, and Fifth Ascendant Ji'nara formed a line. Their supplicants formed phalanxes behind them.

This was the best of the Tal'darim. This was the very essence of the Forged.

Without a word, the Tal'darim charged forward. Hybrids ripped roaches, hydralisks, and ultralisks apart. Ma'lash was like a walking turret as he unleashed void storm after void storm onto the zerg. Those that survived the plowing of the ascendants and the hybrids were overpowered by the supplicants.

The Swarm could barely delay the Tal'darim.

Ultralisk after ultralisk collapsed at Ma'lash's feet. As time passed, the Tal'darim moved closer and closer to Kerrigan's chamber. Any zerg in the way of the protoss, whatever they were, were slain almost the moment they appeared. Every zerg building in the way of the protoss, from the most basic creep tumor to the most advanced ultralisk cavern, were sent crumbling to dust.

Tens of thousands of zerg fell, and the Tal'darim barely took any damage. After all, a single supplicant zealot could melee a squad of elite zerg roaches and win. With the hybrids taking most of the attention and ripping apart most of the resistance, the supplicants advanced steadily.

"My queen. I advise you to retreat." A broodmother suggested as she sensed the Tal'darim closing in. Every unit on Kerrigan's flagship belonged to her elite personal guards, but that didn't allow them to survive void storms or hybrid claws.

"Retreat?" Kerrigan smirked. She stood up from her throne and stretched her spine wings. "Broodmothers, take over command of the Swarm fleet while I personally deal with these Tal'darim."

Without waiting for an answer from her underlings, Kerrigan made her way toward the frontline. Every zerg she met on her way joined her. When she reached where the Tal'darim were, she already had an army behind her back.

Ma'lash casually ripped a zergling into two with his bare hands and tossed the body back, adding to the mountain of zerg corpses behind him.

"Ahh, the Queen of Blades. I have heard all about you. You are a menacing force. Unfortunately, Amon wants you dead, and his will is my decree." The Highlord waved his hand, and the tide of red moved forward and smashed into the sea of purple.

"You fools..."

Kerrigan commented as she obliterated a dozen zealots with a single energy wave. A hybrid reaver jumped onto her, but just before the two made contact, the Queen of Blades tilted her body slightly, and the reaver found itself on top of the zerg leader's spine wings. Covered by a glowing purple psionic energy, the spines ripped the reaver apart. Blue blood stained the purple creep.

But Kerrigan didn't have much time to enjoy the victory. Before she knew it, Ma'lash's double bane blades were already on top of her

Kerrigan reacted with her own spines. The purple spines and red blades clashed dozens of times in less than ten seconds. Suddenly, after pushing Kerrigan's spine wings aside with a heavy slash, Ma'lash formed a ball of red energy and slammed it into Kerrigan.

The Queen of Blades was knocked back, but before Ma'lash could smile, she stood back up. A slight scorch mark was on her chest plating, but that was about it.

Ma'lash's expression changed. That attack was practically the strongest he could muster. Sure, there were other things he could do, but if this attack didn't do any damage to Kerrigan, then the other options would likely fail as well.

Unless…

"Warriors of AMon, empower me! Aid me to victory!"

As soon as those words were spoken, every Tal'darim inside the leviathan felt their strength decreasing. In exchange, Ma'lash's strength amplified as he sensed thousands of waves of psionic energy entering his body.

With renewed strength, Ma'lash regained his confidence a bit. His hands came together and generated a crimson energy beam, directly aimed at Kerrigan.

This time Kerrigan couldn't be as cocky. The combined power of all the supplicants and the hybrids made Ma'lash much more powerful than before. The Queen dodged to the side. The light beam landed on an ultralisk, melted it, and continued to punch a hole through the leviathan's inner armor.

Sensing the leviathan's pained screech through the psionic network and returning to her formal pose, Kerrigan wasn't too worried. Around her, Tal'darim forces were already losing their momentum. The reinforcement she brought was one of the factors. The fact that Ma'lash took away a large portion of their energy was another.

In addition, abilities like Empower me weren't that durable. Perhaps Ma'lash could hold this much energy in his body for a few minutes, but there was no way he could maintain this condition for hours.

Ma'lash charged forward once again. His bane blades shined even brighter than before. But this time, instead of getting into the action herself, Kerrigan took ten steps back.

Twenty zerglings and ten banelings took her place.

Even before being empowered, Ma'lash could easily dispose of these zerg, and at the current situation Ma'lash slaughtered these obstacles even quicker. Zerglings were shredded. Banelings smashed into Ma'lash, only to clash with his plasma shield and be melted. Thirty elite zerg units were taken down in a couple seconds. They barely left a trace of their existance.

But within these couple seconds, the Queen of Blades has already retreated behind layers and layers of zerg. Ma'lash found himself staring at a wall of roaches and hydralisks.

Zerg after zerg fell in front of him. Ma'lash slashed and stabbed and blasted and crushed with everything he has got. The dead formed a hill beneath his feet, and that hill was gradually getting higher and higher. To the empowered Highlord, an ultralisk was no different than a zergling. They both could be killed with a single move. All around him, Tal'darim pushed forward with blood and steel. Ascendants were slightly less efficient than Ma'lash, but they were the spearhead of the assault nonetheless.

Two thousand more zerg streamed down a side corridor and smashed into the Tal'darim. One minute later, they were gone.

Kerrigan watched with a straight face as she took another twenty steps back.

Finally, after nearly twenty minutes, Ma'lash felt his strength leaving him. His body simply couldn't handle this much power inside. He even stumbled a little from the aftereffect. He was simply exhausted.

Kerrigan saw it. The Queen of Blades even waited for a few seconds to be sure. When she was confident it wasn't an act, she leaped forward, aiming at the Highlord's head.

The table was turned. Ma'lash found himself at the mercy of Kerrigan's spines. It was only the aid of his supplicants and occasionally the other ascendants that kept him alive, but Ma'lash wasn't satisfied with being kept alive. He wanted to kill Kerrigan, and from the looks of it he has already missed his best opportunity.

Suddenly, Alarak heard something inside the comm. He looked around before saying something.

The next second every Tal'darim and hybrid in the leviathan disappeared in a beam of light.

When they reappeared inside the mothership, Ma'lash was furious.

"Who ordered the retreat?" He demanded with his blades still ignited in a threatening pose. "I was winning!"

Now, that was obviously a lie, but Ma'lash had to save face. Plus, he was really pissed off. When the warping happened, he was defenseless, and Kerrigan's spine almost took off his head. It was only due to his modified plasma shield that saved his skin.

"I did." Alarak stood out. He explained before Ma'lash could say anything. "We reconnected to a fleet beacon in the Sigma Quadrant."

"I was told it was destroyed." The good news distracted Ma'lash from his anger.

"It must have been reconstructed." Alarak said coldly. "We can warp away now."

"Then do it." Ma'lash had no idea what happened, but he was more than glad to flee from a battle he obviously couldn't win. He wasn't afraid of dying, but he didn't want to die pointlessly, defeated. He could make a last ditch effort against the Queen of Blades if he didn't have a choice, but now that he had another choice, he would gladly take that one instead.

As soon as all the Tal'darim warriors were recalled back to the capital ships, the Death Fleet warped away. During the relatively brief ambush, dozens of capital ships were lost, but the essence of the Tal'darim survived.

Inside her ship, Kerrigan groaned as victory slipped through her fingers. This shouldn't have happened. The broodmother that was tasked with attacking the Sigma Quadrant told her through the psionic network that the fleet beacon was already destroyed. Kerrigan tried to contact that broodmother, and frowned when she didn't get an answer.

Something was wrong.

Suddenly, she sensed something from Zagara, the broodmother she left to command the zerg forces on Char.

"My queen, I have something unfortunate to report."

"Are you being hesitant, Zagara?" Kerrigan demanded angrily. She wasn't in a good mood, and the way Zagara said it made her impatient. "Speak!"

"As you wish, my queen." Zagara continued. "A small group of terran forces attacked Char. They were aided by the Dominion Fleet. They took the artifact."

Before she went on to face the Death Fleet, Kerrigan kept her piece of the artifact back on Char. She didn't want to risk losing it in the battle. As far as she could see, Char was the safest place a zerg could be in. Sure, the Dominion Fleet laid siege to Char, but Kerrigan knew what Mengsk was thinking, and she was confident he wouldn't order the attack.

What Kerrigan didn't know was that Ma'lash and the Tal'darim weren't the only ones who wanted the artifact fragments and were willing to risk everything for it. Narud did as well, and his interest of the artifact went far beyond what Kerrigan imagined. While having her suspicions, the Queen of Blades thought Narud was merely a curious terran researcher who went a little too far. Unfortunately for Kerrigan, Dr. Emil Narud had more influence in the Terran Dominion than she imagined. While he couldn't convince Mengsk to launch a full scale attack on Char, he was able to, with a few price, convince him to not only allow a small Moebius task force to land on Char and carry out a special mission but also order the Dominion fleet to provide fire support.

A certain spectre led the Moebius charge.

The initial wave of bombardment from the Dominion Fleet caught the zerg by surprise. Unknown to the Swarm, terran ravens have already located where the artifact was. The Dominion Fleet unloaded thousands of shots on the defenders, practically wiping them out. Further bombardment forced the zerg reinforcement back as the Moebius strike team retrieved the artifact.

It was a clean mission. The Moebius got in, got the artifact, and got out. The few zerg survivors that persevered through the bombardment were gunned down.

As the dropships that carried the artifact flew away, zerg flyers tried to pursuit, but they turned around when they found themselves facing the full might of the Dominion Fleet.

The majority of the Swarm was gone. The Dominion Fleet on site outnumbered the zerg. If the terran attacked, they could deal heavy damage. Zagara couldn't risk provoking them by ordering a pursuit. She could only watch as the terran left with the artifact.

It was ironic. Kerrigan entered the battle wanting to earn herself one more fragment, and she ended up leaving with one less fragment.

But at this point there was nothing the Queen of Blades could do but order a retreat back to Char. She was out of tricks, and her fleet was depleted. Even the Dominion Fleet seemed like a powerful foe. She needed time before she could make another move.

That wasn't the end to her troubles. As she finally had the time to go over everything, Kerrigan quickly realized she lost contact with dozens of planets between the zerg border and the Umojan border. She needed time to recover.

In this exchange, neither the protoss nor the zerg won. If there was indeed a victor, it was Jean. Throughout the battle, Jean and Delta developed their forces quietly. Delta raided multiple Tal'darim planets, looted the minerals, and used them to build up her own fleet. Jean found herself with thousands of extra Warden units, and she was confident she could convince the Umojans to make more of them. Her connection to the Umojans was also enhanced.


	88. Chapter 88

Umoja.

Jean stepped through her mansion that was located on the capital planet of the Umojan Protectorate.

Jean wasn't given a military rank after she joined the Umojan Protectorate. She was like a mercenary. Then again, just like a mercenary, she was paid handsomely. In exchange for her contributions to the Protectorate, like introducing the Warden units and aiding the attack on the Swarm, she received a large paycheck.

Using these credits, Jean got herself a large mansion on Umoja. She even hired a squad of private security to keep herself save, not that she needed them.

It has been over two weeks since the battle between the Death Fleet and the Swarm. After returning from the invasion on Swarm airspace, Jean found herself with a ton of free time. The process of creating Warden units no longer needed her, and she was no longer needed at the fleet either.

This gave her time to...do things. Fortunately for every living creature in the sector, it wasn't exactly things like committing mass genocide or sending armies against each other...at least not quite...

Jean walked into a large bathroom filled with more light than the stage of a theatre. The bathtub was already filled with warm water, and the girl stripped down and slowly walked inside. She sank down and allowed the water to cover most of her body, only leaving her head out in the open. As her body hit the bottom of the bathtub, she moaned softly.

"Butler, remind me to get a slave as a maid. It's getting dull to live by myself."

A mechanical voice echoed through the empty mansion.

"Ms. Cassidia, slavery is prohibited under both Umojan and Dominion law."

"Fine. In that case, servants. Call them whatever you want. As long as I've got enough money, they're all the same." The blonde girl said impatiently. "How much money do I have again?"

The Butler replied with a number.

"Bravo." Jean smiled and reached out into a counter placed beside the tub and took out a bottle of wine. Just that bottle of drink was worth more than the annual income of a typical Umojan family. She drank straight from the bottle and emptied it. As she finished, she finally closed her eyes and laid back in the tub, nodding off.

As Jean fell half asleep, a cloaked figure retreated from the mansion, which should be private to Jean. As he moved, none of the private security Jean hired sensed anything. The figure got out of the mansion, ran for ten minutes, and got inside another heavily guarded building.

The building belonged to Councilman Jorgensen, the supposed leader of the Umojan Protectorate.

"Sir," The cloaked figure turned off his cloaking field, revealing a man in an armor similar to the hostile environment suit of a ghost. However, both the armor and the helmet were slightly different in terms of design. Furthermore, the armor was white, in contrast to the red armor of Dominion ghosts.

He was a shadowguard. An Umojan ghost.

Jorgensen nodded. He wasn't surprised by the sudden appearance of the man. After all, he sent the man. "How is our advisor doing?"

After Jean returned from the expedition to the zerg territories, Jorgensen decided to do something to her. Something wasn't right about her. Everything just seemed perfect. _Too perfect._ A couple days after the Umojans were attacked by the zerg infestation, this girl suddenly popped up and offered a perfect solution, and the zerg simply backed off. For a while, Jorgensen thought he might be overthinking this. Jean obviously had the Warden technology all the time, and she only came forward to the Umojans after the infestation because she saw an opportunity for profit. That was who she was. A mercenary. An opportunist. Someone who profited on the disaster and the suffering of the Umojans.

Yet Jorgensen wanted to be sure, which was why he sent the shadowguard. If Jean was who she claimed to be, then great. If she wasn't, well, shadowguards weren't only spies. They were also assassins, and they were willing to do anything to protect the Umojan Protectorate.

If that happened, all Jorgensen had to do was decide if a fire was more convincing than a car crash.

"Sir, Miss Cassidia seems to be having a great time. She spent most of her credits on a large house, a large security, and luxuries like lotions and wines."

Jorgensen frowned. "Any sign of conspiracy? With the Dominion, maybe?"

"Negative." The shadowguard replied concisely before thinking maybe he was being too impolite. "I have followed her since her return from the expedition. If she tried to do something or send out a message, I would know." He paused. "Sir, should I continue to follow her?"

Jorgensen shook his head. The longer the shadowguard stayed with Jean, the more likely he would be discovered, and if that happened he wouldn't be able to explain why he ordered a special operation soldier to tail an accomplice of Umoja. As long as Jean was clean, there was no need to take the risk.

"No. You have completed your mission, soldier."

The shadowguard saluted and left the room.

Meanwhile, Jean's earpiece rang.

"Creator, the Umojan shadowguard has departed."

Jean's eyes snapped open. Unknown to the shadowguard, she kept a minimized detector on her wherever she went. The moment the shadowguard got beside her, the Warden AI monitoring the detector warned her. Instead of taking the ghost out by force, Jean laid low. Killing the shadowguard was easy. Settling the one who sent the shadowguard wasn't. Even if she could do it, it would be pointless and costly.

For days she laid quiet and played the part of a lucky mercenary who just got a huge paycheck and was willing to waste it away for some fun. Despite not enjoying a single part of it, she played the role perfectly.

And now the shadowguard was fooled.

Jean tapped her head. In order to be absolutely convincing, all the things she did were real. She actually emptied the bottle of wine, and now her head was spinning. She had some gift, but nothing done to her head made her immune to the effect of alcohol. She was still drunk, and she needed to change that.

The girl silently whispered an order into her earpiece, and the next second all the water in the bathtub was emptied by a sink. They were replaced by ice water, which quickly filled the tub to her neck. She shivered, but she stayed seated for a minute. The cold effectively woke her up. When the sleepiness was gone, Jean stood up, wiped her body clean with a white towel, and got dressed. As she did so, she started a conversation with the Warden AI in charge of the house.

"Creator, there is something you might want to know."

Advanced Warden units, like the Warden Command Units, had the ability to think independently. This allowed them to distinguish what was useful from what wasn't.

"Speak."

"After staying quiet for over two weeks after the battle of Tyrador VIII, James Raynor has been back on the move. He has retrieved the last piece of artifact fragment from the Tal'darim in an attack aided by the Moebius Corps. According to sources, he is hiring mercenaries. Signs indicate he is planning something."

"He wants to attack the Swarm." Jean deduced from her memories. Narud must've combined the fragments and reassembled the Xel'naga Keystone. The Keystone was capable of undoing all zerg genes, basically reducing them to ashes. This would kill every zerg in its blast radius. It wouldn't kill the infested Queen of Blades, but it would exterminate every drop of zerg inside Kerrigan and turn her back to the terran ghost she used to be. She would still be deadly, but she was no longer a threat to the sector.

Raynor thought he would be saving his love. He didn't know his action would awaken a menace even worse than Sarah Kerrigan. All the zerg essence the Keystone collected would be stored inside the artifact, and after a few modifications, these essence could be used to forge a shell of the dark god, allowing him to enter the material world.

Jean needed to return Kerrigan back to a human state, as it would allow Jean to set up an alliance with her and therefore the Swarm, but she had no reason of allowing Amon to enter the material world. Her plan was to take out all of the dark god's helpers in the sector, whether they were the Tal'darim, the Moebius, or the feral zerg, and then make her way into the void with the entire Koprulu Sector behind her back.

If she simply sat back, first of all, she didn't think Raynor could purify Kerrigan. In the original history, Raynor and half the Dominion fleet made their way to the surface of Char despite having very little air control, set up a defensive formation despite being attacked by the full might of the Swarm, and held that position against the attack of the Queen of Blades herself and the majority of the Swarm long enough for the Keystone to be fully charged. During the entire time, Kerrigan practically sat back and watched. She launched a couple attacks, but all of them were deflected.

Jean couldn't promise this would happen again this time, and she wasn't the type that would take the chances. If she wanted something done, she would do it herself.

In addition, if she didn't intervene, there was no way she could keep Narud's hands off the Keystone. Raynor thought Narud was his ally. He wouldn't stand a chance against a strike team from the Xel'naga.

But Jean needed to be careful as of how she intervened. She couldn't bring the Umojan Fleet there. Even if she could convince the Ruling Council, the Umojans and the Dominion were enemies. They didn't exactly engage in a full scale war, but covert operations went on all over the sector. A large portion of the Umojans were those who fled from the oppressive Dominion. If she brought the Umojan fleet to Char and hoped they would fight side by side with the Dominion, she might start a fight between the two terran fleets even before engaging the zerg.

She considered taking the avatar of a mercenary, but she couldn't gain command to a mercenary group in time, and even if she did, a couple mercenary battlecruisers couldn't give her enough leverage to do what she needed to do.

She needed to bring in the Umojan Fleet, but it would be a tough process. Thankfully, she wasn't afraid of hard work.

"Butler, contact Senator Jorgensen and ask him to summon the Ruling Council. I have a suggestion to make."

* * *

Unfortunately for Jean, this time the Ruling Council wasn't as satisfied with her proposal.

"Miss Cassidia, might I remind you that the Protectorate is created with the objective to secure liberty and freedom from oppressive governments. The Terran Dominion is the prime example of oppressive governments. We will never fight side by side with the Dominion."

A councilman replied mockingly.

The man's words were righteous, but Jean knew this was just an excuse. To the Umojan leaders, there was no point in taking the risk by going to Char. If the fleet was defeated, well, all would be lost. Even if the fleet was victorious, the relatively small Protectorate could never recover from the damage. Even now, the Umojans could barely keep themselves safe from the Dominion. This mission would be even more impossible if half the Umojan Fleet was overwhelmed by the zerg. The Dominion had the resource and the manpower to quickly replaced their losses. The Umojans didn't.

It was a right decision on the part of the councilmen. After all, as leaders of the Protectorate, it was their job to think for its interest. Unfortunately, Jean had a different objective, and that objective couldn't be fulfilled by being careful.

Still, she made one last attempt.

"This is not about the Dominion. This is about the fight between the zerg and the terran. Destroying the Swarm is a just thing to do for every human being in the sector…"

This was an argument Raynor used to convince his Raiders to side with the Dominion. Jean figured if Raynor could turn an army of rebels to become temporary allies with the entity they rebelled against, then she could do the same to the Umojans. Unfortunately, Jean didn't have the level of command over the Umojans as Raynor did over his Raiders.

She was cut off before she could even finish.

"Mind your tone, miss Cassidia. You are merely an advisor. Your job is to give advices when we ask for them."

Another councilman replied.

Jean glanced at Jorgensen, who dodged her glance. Just like his colleagues, Jorgensen didn't felt the need to take the risk.

Normally, this was a good decision, but this time it might be the worst decision possible. Jean wasn't the type that would take a no for an answer.

"Yes sir. I understand." Jean smiled, showing no sign of anger or frustration of being rejected, before backing out. As soon as she left, her smile disappeared.

The Umojan Ruling Council was in her way. She needed to change that.


	89. Chapter 89

High orbit space platform. Umoja. The Umojan Protectorate.

Ever since the age of Greek city states, leaders have attempted to protect their territories as much as possible. Back then, the defenders used walls to keep the enemies out. As technology progressed, fortresses and trenches were dug. As mankind started to fight and die in space, neither walls nor fortresses could keep the enemies out. After all, enemy forces could just land behind the defenses. Even if enemies didn't do that, smugglers and other criminals could come and go as they please. It would be difficult for Umojan patrols to identify criminals from civilians and intercept and question all the vessels that came and went.

Thankfully, human beings were resourceful, if nothing else. Gradually, terran commanders started to construct space platforms. During times of war, these platforms could act as a staging area and a source of fire support. During times of peace, civilian starships that wanted to land on Umoja had to come here first for inspection. This way, even if a group of enemies pretended to be civilians and wanted to do some sabotage, they would be halted at the space platform.

If civilian ships tried to land on Umoja from places other than the space platforms, they would be intercepted by patrolling Umojan starfighters and arrested. Only criminals would shy away from the platforms.

Even now, at one of the dozens of platforms, hundreds of starships of all types were coming and going. Squads of fighters patrolled the skies. Fully armed soldiers inspected the starships. As unlikely as it was that criminals would set their foot on a military platform, none of these men were willing to take the risk. A few civilian officers checked the IDs.

A distance away, a large corvette exited warp space. It approached and landed on one of the spots on the space platform.

Inside the bridge of the corvette, a woman in her forties stood tall. She wore a leather jacket and had a gauss pistol strapped to her side, but the most distinguishing feature on her was her right arm. Instead of a normal, human arm, it was a mechanical limb.

"Sir, the Umojans are sending men to search our ship. We are ordered to turn off our ship and show no sign of resistance." A lieutenant on the comm with an Umojan official reported.

The lieutenant sounded worried. He knew very well the corvette, and what was on it, wouldn't be allowed entry. After all, even the most tolerant government wouldn't allow hundreds of fully armed mercenaries in.

The woman wasn't worried. Instead, she simply tapped a few keys, and the Umojan searching party backed off. The officer on the other side nodded through the computer screen.

"You're free to leave." He informed.

As the corvette left the platform and made its way toward Umoja, the lieutenant turned to his leader.

"Sir, might I ask what you sent them?"

The woman looked at the lieutenant. Normally she wouldn't bother telling her underlings why she did what she did, but the lieutenant was someone who she wanted to promote. He could be a helpful hand.

"It's a military order from the Umojan High Command granting us access to Umoja without having to be searched."

The lieutenant rose his eyebrows. "Umojan High Command...why would someone from the Umojan High Command help us infiltrate Umoja?" It didn't make any sense. The lieutenant suddenly realized something. "What's this mission, sir? Who are we fighting again? Who are we hired by?"

The woman went quiet for a while. When she spoke again, she dodged the question. "The employer paid us half the reward beforehand. I have set up a system. Whatever happens, that money will be delivered to your families."

The lieutenant went quiet as well. Things must really be bad if his commander was getting ready for what would happen if the entire mercenary group was wiped out. Still, he realized he had no choice. If someone paid enough money to buy the lives of every single men in this mercenary group, then he or she would certainly have enough to hire mercenaries after them if they bailed or backed off. At this point he could only pray for the best.

The corvette landed in a relatively distant Umojan military starport on Umoja, and nearly five hundred heavily armed mercenaries walked out. They were made up of mostly marines, marauders, medics, reapers, and a few ghosts. They didn't have any mech support, and with any luck they wouldn't need any.

Strangely, the starport seemed to be empty. Everyone, even the basic security, were cleared. From the looks of it, they were ordered to leave rather than terminated by force, which to a degree was more terrifying.

Suddenly, the mercenary leader's comm device vibrated. She looked down, and looked back up almost immediately. It didn't take her long to find the building she was looking for.

It was an armory.

She waved her hand, and a squad of marines barged into the armory.

"Sir, you need to see this!" One of the men reported.

The commander walked into the armory, and she was amazed by what she saw. Five hundred sets of Umojan gadgets, including armor, weapon, and everything needed to turn a normal human being to an elite Umojan trooper.

She looked down on her transmitter again.

"Commander Madison. Order your men to put on those equipment." A line of command popped up.

Madison frowned. She received this transmitter just yesterday after saying yes to a mercenary mission put on the black mercenary market. Someone demanded five hundred elite combatants and that someone was willing to pay great money for them. She took the job, sensing an opportunity for more cash for her and her men. After that, she received all the orders from this transmitter. Ever since she took the mission, she hasn't even seen her employer in person. She didn't even know what the employer's gender was. Hell she didn't even now if her employer was human. If that someone didn't pay enough money to buy a battlecruiser to her mercenary squad, she might just quit.

Now she couldn't help but think she was dragged into something beyond her control, and one misstep could lead to the demise of her and her men. Still, there was nothing she could do at this stage. She could only follow the orders.

She gave an order, and her men started changing. Before long, the five hundred mercenaries were turned to five hundred Umojans.

"Now, march your men toward these coordinates. This is what you will do...If someone demands who you are, reply this...if someone wants credentials...show them this…"

Madison glanced around, almost certain there was some sort of camera that was trained on her. She nodded and put her men on the march.

The mission was crazy, but she had no choice.

* * *

A series of compounds was located at the north of the Umojan Senate House. These compounds were built to combine comfort and security. Underneath the trees and decorations were detectors and auto turrets. With the help of top level engineers, bunkers could be assembled in just minutes. Fully armed marines and marauders patrolled the streets 24/7. These compounds were reserved for high ranking Umojan officers and officials. There was enough defense to defend the compounds against any enemy and buy enough time for the compound's occupants to flee to safety.

Inside one of these compounds sat a high ranking Umojan officer.

Admiral Hancock was the vice commander of the Umojan Fleet. The Umojan Fleet had one commander, Admiral Thorn, and two vice commanders, Admiral Hancock and Admiral Astrich. Admiral Astrich commanded the fraction of the Umojan Fleet between the Umojan and the Dominion border. Thorn and Hancock, in turn, stayed on Umoja with the majority of the Umojan military forces.

As the second in command to the military forces of Umoja, Hancock should be satisfied with his position, except he wasn't.

He was worried.

"You seem...frustrated." In the computer in front of her, Jean commented.

Hancock glanced at Jean but didn't say anything. There was a scent of fear in his eyes.

A few days ago, after Jean's suggestion of taking the war to the Swarm was rejected, Hancock thought the girl would just forget about this. Either that, or she would continue to try to convince the members of the Ruling Council, and no doubt fail in doing so.

He didn't expect her to do something much, much more dramatic.

Jean contacted him and suggested a terrifying plan. She would bring in a group of foreign combatants. Hancock would use his power to discreetly bring these men close to their target and give them an opportunity to launch an attack on the Senate House with the entire Ruling Council inside.

The plan was to execute everyone, including Jorgensen and Thorn. With them gone, as the highest ranking officer, Hancock would be in charge of everything on Umoja. Even if someone wondered if there was any tie between the attack and Hancock, now with the army in hand, Hancock could no doubt shut down those ideas with brute force.

Jean would be in charge of hiring the mercenaries and other technological support.

At first Hancock threatened to expose Jean and seize her for conspiracy against the Umojan Protectorate, but he changed his mind when Jean showed her the dirt she had on him. It turned out nothing was safe online. To someone like Jean, it was only a matter of finding it.

Placed between a choice of defending what was right and be arrested for corruption and doing what was really wrong and become the dictator of the Protectorate, Hancock cracked like an egg.

Even so, he constantly wondered if it was a terrible mistake.

"The mercenaries are moving toward the Senate House. Don't worry. Their IDs were issued by the Umojan High Command. It can be anyone. No one will trace it back to you."

Jean spoke freely. She had the entire communication channel under her control.

Hancock bit his lips. As much as he was worried about the mission, he was more frightened by Jean. She has already blackmailed him into committing treason. What's next? He would only rise to the seat of the commander of the Umojan Fleet, just to become this girl's puppet.

He decided he needed to fight back a little. Just to show Jean he wasn't her slave.

"Let's hope so, because if I am compromised, I will give you out in a heartbeat."

Jean glanced at him. She didn't tell him if this mission went wrong, he wouldn't live long enough to be captured. No. The squad of Warden marines he kept in the back as constant bodyguard against any potential threat would be activated and be ordered to turn on their supposed owner. When the capturing team arrived, the admiral would be dead and the Warden marines would act as if nothing happened. The dead tell no tale.

She didn't say anything. Sometimes being tough didn't require loud threats or harsh words. Those who were truly deadly would never give a warning before striking.

Receiving no answer, Hancock sat back, slightly disappointed.

Meanwhile, the mercenary squad on the other side made its way toward the Umojan Senate House. There was no way to cover an army of the five hundred in an urban area, but the mercenaries' Umojan uniforms blocked out most of the questions. Even the officers who did ask the questions were deflected by the paper order the leader of the squad showed them.

As the most important building on Umoja, the Senate House was put under heavy guard. In order to give the common Umojan people a sense of peace and democracy rather than war and military control, the Senate House seemed normal on the outside. But on a more careful glance, it could be seen that some of the grounds in front of the Senate House were uneven. This was because there were auto turrets burrowed underground. Some of the decorations were a bit stiff and out of place, which was because they weren't only decorations but also defensive structures in disguise. In the back, there was a battalion of a thousand men, constantly armed and ready for battle. If something went wrong, they could be put into combat in just minutes.

These setups would be great and could take most of the intruders by surprise, but when the intruders were working with one of the highest ranking officers in the military, these defenses were obvious.

Jean even sent a map to Madison that contained the position of all the defenses, including where the siege tanks, bunkers, and turrets were, as well as the location of the reserve battalion.

The mercenaries made their way through the outer wall of the Senate House. They were stopped in the lobby of the Senate building.

"Soldier, you don't have the clearance for this area. I need to check in with my CO."

Even with the IDs from the High Command, the lieutenant at the lobby still stopped the squad.

Madison knew she couldn't let the lieutenant report in. If that happened, then her cover would no doubt be blown, and she would be forced into launching a frontal assault.

In that case...


	90. Chapter 90

Hearing the lieutenant's question, Madison tried to maintain a normal expression, but her hand has already reached to behind her back, where a gauss pistol was. The mercenaries behind her silently got ready as well. This would be a difficult fight. There would be hundreds, if not thousands, of Umojans in the building, and the defenders would have time to evacuate the senators and deploy more forces into the field, but at least the mercenaries would have the element of surprise. With any luck...

Suddenly, the lieutenant tapped his earpiece. Madison frowned and made a signal to tell her men to postpone the attack for a second.

"Sir?" The Umojan lieutenant asked, noticing the source of the communication to be from the Umojan High Command.

"Soldier, report." The lieutenant immediately realized it was the voice of Admiral Thorn. He was a bit confused by the admiral's phrasing, but he dropped it nonetheless.

"Yes sir. A group of Umojan soldiers is entering the council building. They have the IDs, but this is a maximum security area, and I still need confirmation from High Command."

"Let them through." Thorn's voice continued.

"Yes sir."

The lieutenant stepped aside and allowed the squad of men to enter. Madison rose her eyebrows in confusion but nonetheless continued. It seemed like whoever hired her had even more power than she previously imagined.

On the other side, Hancock, who was observing what was going on in the hall, looked up at Jean.

"You have someone else in the High Council working with you? I thought you promised me I'll command the entire Umojan Protectorate!" Hancock suddenly felt betrayed. If someone else who had this amount of authority was also a member of this conspiracy, then his piece of the cake would be much smaller than he imagined.

Jean glanced at him. "No. " She didn't bother to explain what she did. Instead, she merely gave a simple answer.

While Thorn wasn't working with her, she was still able to use him. As the admiral, Thorn has issued countless orders. Most of these orders were stored in the database in case they were needed for something. With the access Hancock granted her, Jean was able to enter the database and take out pieces of recording she wanted. After a few editing, she put together something like an order from Thorn. When she noticed the infiltration team getting stopped, Jean hacked the communication channel, posed as Thorn, and sent the recording to the lieutenant.

It wasn't perfect. If the lieutenant asked more complex, detailed questions, then there would be little that Jean could do and she would need to rely on the brute force from the mercenaries. Thankfully, a basic lieutenant wasn't exactly fit to question the commander of the entire Umojan military.

As the five hundred men got into the lobby, they started to spread out. Jean passed Madison detailed schematics of the council building, as well as an entire plan of attack.

Two hundred men were spread out across the entire building. Dozens of marauders and one hundred marines casually strolled around the intersections. Madison led the rest of her men toward the main hall, where, according to the information Jean provided, the majority of the Ruling Council was staying at.

Such a movement was obviously noticed, but most of the government workers simply thought it was a typical military movement. After all, someone without an order wouldn't have made it through the gate. That was until a shadowguard noticed the strange group of soldiers, realized he didn't receive notification about this, and reported up the chain of command. It didn't take long before the Ruling Council received a report about the army movement.

"I didn't hear anything about this order." Thorn frowned at the report. "Colonel Hays?"

Colonel Hays was the officer in command of the defenses of the Senate building. Just like Thorn, he frowned when he heard the news. "I don't know anything either." He took out a communication device and contacted the lieutenant at the door. "There's a squad of several hundred soldiers in the building. Who let them in?"

The lieutenant at the door frowned. "I received orders from Admiral Thorn, sir. He gave me a direct order to let them through."

Something was wrong. Hay turned off the comm and rested his hand on his sidearm before turning to Thorn.

"Sir, what is this?"

"What is going on?" As the leader of the senate, Jorgensen demanded. He hated this feeling of losing control and he intended on changing that at once.

"That squad was allowed entrance by the order of Admiral Thorn."

The senators turned to Thorn in confusion.

"It's a lie! I was with you the entire time! I haven't touched a communication device in the past hour!" Thorn was well aware this was bad for him. Directing an army of unknown origin into the Senate building without as much as telling the rest of the senators could be seen as treason. He might be an admiral, but if he was seen as a traitor, then he could be easily arrested. Even his own men wouldn't protect him. After all, his men were loyal to Umoja, not him.

"It doesn't matter." Jorgensen cut the argument off. Whoever was behind this, it was the army of five hundred that was the problem. "Colonel Hays, lockdown the building. Scramble the defenses and take down the intruders. Use lethal force if necessary. In the meantime, it is best if no one leaves the building." He glanced at the senators but especially on Thorn.

The admiral sat back, knowing whatever the result of this was, he would be put under investigation.

"Yes sir." Hays turned on his comm and started barking orders. Immediately, Umojans all across the building started moving. Elite troopers, fully armed, charged into the room. As soon as they were in, the steel blast doors of the room were sealed shut.

There was no point in evacuating the senators because it would be harder to defend an evacuating team than to defend an entrenched position. Plus, all the Umojans needed was to buy time. If they could do that, reinforcements would arrive and terminate the intruders.

At the same time, the reserve battalion was notified. Fully armed men poured into the corridors and moved to intercept the attackers.

Inside his mansion, Hancock frowned as he heard a knock on the door.

"Enter!"

A lieutenant walked in.

"Sir, we have received orders from High Command. We are ordered to dispatch three battalions of reinforcement into the Senate building by air."

Hancock frowned and glanced at his PC. The lieutenant couldn't see it from his point of view, but Hancock could see Jean staring at him.

"Lieutenant Miles. How long have you been with me?"

The man frowned at the question. "Five years, sir."

"Oh...yes. I remember. You first became my lieutenant when I was a colonel." Hancock nodded. "I've be notified." He stopped.

Miles was confused. "Sir, shouldn't you be dispatching men?"

Hancock shook his head.

"No."

Miles opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but he nonetheless remained silent.

In a split second, he considered running out of the room and telling the world what Hancock was planning and have the admiral arrested, but then he started to wonder...if he kept Hancock's secret and the admiral was successful, then he could be much more than a simple lieutenant.

Personal greed overpowered patriotism.

"Yes sir. I understand, sir."

Hancock nodded in satisfaction and, behind the table, returned the silencer-equipped pistol back into its holster.

As Admiral Hancock cut off reinforcement for the moment, Jean gave the notification for Madison to launch the attack. The time for infiltration was over. Now it was the time for brute force.

Upon receiving the order, Madison issued an order to all her men before turning to a squad of patrolling Umojan guards.

She drew her gauss pistols and pulled the trigger.

The moment was perfect. Umojan forces were scrambled but weren't in place. Some of the men were still trying to identify the intruders, who were in Umojan armors and carrying Umojan equipment. Hays informed them there was an army of intruders, but he wasn't able to come up with an effective way to identify the attackers.

The marines and marauders at the corridors broke their cover. Marines immediately mowed down any real Umojans around them. Marauders had a different task as they turned to the building itself. Hundreds of grenades hit the walls and caused multiple collapses, sealing off the entrances and therefore keeping them and the Ruling Council away from Umojan reinforcements.

In one spot, a squad of Umojan marines walked by another squad of patrols. As soon as the two lines reached side by side, the squad of marines suddenly turned on the patrols. It was more of an execution than a battle, and the real Umojans were ripped apart almost immediately.

At certain parts of the hall, mercenary marines executed sentries in point blank range. They dragged the bodies into the corners and replaced the dead. A brief glance from someone couldn't tell the difference. Their job was to pose as Umojans and report the movement of any Umojan squads that came across them to the mercenaries. In the moment of chaos, countless security squads were ambushed and slaughtered.

The entire building was sent into a state of anarchy. Reinforcement from outside tried to come in, but the marauders blocked off most of the entrances. The reserve battalion found itself in a painful position as it was forced to a stop in front of a line of sandbags and roadblocks. Those defensive mechanisms were originally installed by the Umojan defenders, but they didn't help even a little when a squad of mercenaries approached the sentries from behind and executed them in just seconds.

Inside the narrow halls, the battalion had no way to put their advantage in numbers into use. Umojan marines stacked their combat shields together and formed layers of metal and moved forward, but everytime they would be beaten back by dozens of grenades and a hail of bullets. The grenades would rip open the shields, and marine firing would take care of the rest.

The Umojans attacked eight times in five minutes, and everytime they were pushed back after dropping dozens of bodies. Finally, in the ninth assault, the Umojans overwhelmed the mercenaries.

Imagine their mood when they saw the rest of the mercenaries retreating to the next layer of sandbags, regroup with the defenders there, and set up another line of defense.

The order Madison gave these men was to delay the battalion as long as possible, and they did just that.

As the commander of this situation, Hays was faced with countless pieces of information. One moment a squad of Umojans was dispatched to a location. The next second they were wiped out. One moment a defensive position was reported to be secured. The next moment they were under attack and the officer on site was screaming desperately for help.

Eventually, he gave up.

"All squads hold your current position! Do not approach each other. The only ones that come at you are enemies. Terminate them on site."

The Umojans complied. The security squads that survived the mess that could barely be called battle formed smaller defensive positions. This forced the mercenaries to engage them head on, causing them to take much more losses and buying much more time. In any situation, any combat, no matter how one sided it was, was better than an execution.

"Squad one, two, and three converge on my location. Squad four, hold your line and buy as more time." Squad four was the mercenaries that stopped the reserve battalion. Except for squad four, every mercenary in the building rushed to Madison's position. Within just minutes, three hundred mercenaries were already in front of the meeting room.

Two sentries collapsed with bullets in their heads.

"They're here." As soon as he heard the groans of the sentries through the comm, Hays knew the situation was bad. The intruders have already reached the blast doors, and it wouldn't take them long to get through.

"Where are the reinforcement? Dropships can deploy our ground units in less than ten minutes! What is taking Hancock so long?"

Thorn was having trouble keeping his calm either. Admiral or not, a single bullet could kill him.

Hays didn't have time to comfort Thorn and other senators.

"Are the shadowguards in place?"

"Yes sir. Twenty of my brothers are in the room. We can deal with any rebel that enters. They'll never see us coming."

Beside him, a shadowguard turned off his cloaking field. While most of the shadowguards were caught up in covert operations against the Terran Dominion or other military duties, a significant number of them was positioned at the Senate House. Unfortunately, the Umojans weren't that resourceful. While the Terran Dominion could afford dozens of normal ghosts and half a dozen Spec Ops ghosts in the emperor's palace, the Senate House had to settle with twenty shadowguards. Thankfully, the technology these shadowguards had changed the equation slightly.

"Well then…" As the shadowguard returned to cloaked mode, Colonel Hays took a breath and drew his pistol and aimed at the door.

The sound of grenades hitting the blast door made the man cringe. Jorgensen and Thorn, along with the other senators, retreated to behind a wall of elite marines. It would be a pity if the Umojans defeated the attackers, only to lose a few senators to some stray bullets.

On the outside, Madison gripped to her rifle tightly as the blast door got thinner and thinner. She knew as soon as that barrier fell, hundreds will die.

Eventually, with one last explosion, the blast door was, well, blasted open.


	91. Chapter 91

A mercenary marauder launched himself through the breach.

He was dead before he hit the ground.

The rest of the mercenaries kept on going. Heavier armored marauders led the charge. Man after man fell. All the hundred or so Umojans inside the room had their weapons trained at that single entrance, and that was including twenty ghosts. Marauders had quite the armor, but it simply isn't enough. Against this much firepower, even a zealot would be ripped apart.

"We can hold them." A marine commented. All this stress and fear of death made him sweat, and he was glad to find out he might live to see another day. Silently, he made up his mind to propose to his girlfriend if he gets out of this alive.

His mind wandering when a series of grenades smashed into another blast door on the side and shattered it. Before the Umojans realized what happened, mercenaries poured in from that opening.

A dozen marauders entered the room. A mixture of light taps appeared, and half of the marauders collapsed with a hole in their helmet. Shadowguards sniped them before the marauders could even see what was in the room. But the survivors had a brief second before the Umojan marines and marauders fired on them. Instead of wasting the shots on marines, the marauders turned to a couple seemingly empty area and pulled the trigger.

A dozen EMP grenades sent most of the twenty shadowguards to the ground.

Shadowguards were cloaked, but in order for the other Umojan units to cooperate with the shadowguards, they needed a way to tell the Umojans where the shadowguards were. Umojan enginers did that by uploading the location of the shadowguards to the helmets of other units. Unfortunately, when the mercenaries changed into those Umojan armors, they gained that same visio.

The rest of the marauders perished in a wave of gunshots, but now the Umojans had to defend two positions, their firepower for each location was cut off by half. Adding fuel to the fire, most of the shadowguards were disabled. Without their psionic power, these shadowguards were no longer capable of sniping. They couldn't cloak or defend themselves with psionic energy either. Their melee psionic blades were useless. They could still fire ordinary shots and even engage the terran with hand to hand combat, but they were much less menacing.

The table turned when a mercenary sacrificed his life and tossed a stun grenade into the room. The grenade exploded and sent a large portion of the Umojans into a state of confusion. The mercenaries used that chance and pushed forward from both directions.

Without the defender's advantage, the Umojans were outnumbered and outgunned. After hundreds of casualties from both sides, all the Umojan defenders were exterminated. The mercenaries were down to around one hundred, but the survivors had a high spirit. After all, they have won.

All the senators were taken captive. Colonel Hays had no such luck. A stray bullet went through his heart.

"Send in the forces and surround the Senate House. Do not engage." Seeing the situation through a security camera, Jean ordered.

Hancock moved quickly. Thousands of Umojans were ferried into position by dropships and medivacs. However, these men didn't launch an attack on the barricaded building. Hancock explained it was because the intruders have already taken the senators alive. An attack might lead to their demise.

After passing down the orders, Hancock turned back to Jean. A frown on his face. "Why aren't the mercenaries executing the senators. For the moment I am at the top of the chain of command, but even I can't keep the military back for long. I don't want the senators to be rescued by a strike team."

Hancock needed the senators gone so he could be the highest ranking officer in the Protectorate and therefore the dictator, but Jean had something different in mind.

"I tried to get them to do it, but they refused. Apparently, they are worried about being abandoned. They want us to give them a way out before they finish their part of the deal." Jean lied. In fact, she specifically ordered Madison to keep the captives alive through the transmitter, but Hancock didn't need to know that. As far as he know, the mercenaries made that decision based on their own self-interest.

"Then what? If the senators are saved...I didn't take all this risk for nothing!" The rogue admiral complained. This was not part of the plan.

Jean thought about it before answering. "Give me command of a Warden team. I'll lead them and terminate the mercenaries and, if possible, the senators. I can cancel the information inside the Warden units afterwards to erase the trail."

In reality, she didn't need Hancock to give her the Warden units. She could say an order and the Warden units would simply obey her. The only catch was that she needed Hancock to have absolute trust in the Warden units.

Hancock nodded. "Get it done. I've got twelve hundred Warden units on the ground. Take what you need."

Jean got to the siege lines outside the Senate House in less than five minutes. As soon as she got there, she took command of five hundred Warden marines and marauders. She herself got into a modified white armor.

"All units, move forward. Clear the barriers and form an assault formation." She ordered.

As Warden marauders started blasting apart the rocks and debris that blocked the entrances, Jean got on her transmitter and texted Madison.

"There is a group of Umojan units with Ws on their armor. They're friendlies. Let them through."

"Quiet down! Do what we say and you'll be fine!" Madison was having some trouble quieting down her captives. She didn't dare to execute some of these politicians because if her boss wanted her to keep them alive, they must be worth some value. Madison didn't want to completely piss them off. The experienced politicians saw that and tried to abuse it. This reached a climax when Madison caught one of the senators attempting to contact the outside world. But even then she couldn't kill him. She could only order her men to watch over the captives more carefully.

That was when she saw Jean's message.

The mercenaries offered no resistance as the Warden squad got into the Senate House. The senators were glad at first when they saw the familiar and somewhat comforting sight of Warden units. They turned much more negative when the mercenaries didn't even try to stop the Wardens.

There was only one explanation. They were on the same side.

"Colonel Madison?" Jean asked quietly as she walked up to the mercenary leader. Beside her, a few senators were obviously taken by surprise when they heard the woman's familiar sound, but none of them said anything. At this pace, they might get to live. If they showed Jean they knew she was involved, Jean might just silence them.

"Yes." Madison smiled, trying to act nice. Whoever this armored girl was, she was much more trusted by their boss than Madison was. "What do you want me to do?"

"Well…" As Jean started speaking, Madison suddenly saw the Warden units Jean came here with spreading out. At first she didn't think anything of it. They might just be securing the perimeter. But she quickly realized the placement of the Warden units was somewhat familiar.

It didn't take her long to come to a terrible realization. The formation the Warden units were in was the same formation her mercenaries were in when they stabbed the Umojans in the back.

Jean keenly noticed the shocked look on Madison's face, and she knew she couldn't wait any longer.

"Now!" She whispered in the comm.

"Yes, Creator."

Hearing the order, every single Warden unit reacted. Before they walked in, Jean has already used the administrator passcode to give herself top level clearance. She used this power to assign a codeword to these units. Whenever they hear she say the word "now", they would label the mercenaries as hostile, and that was exactly what happened.

Within a wave of almost simultaneous gunshots, all the Warden units executed the mercenaries in the back. They were five hundred Warden and twenty percent that number of mercenaries. Even in a fair fight, which this wasn't, the mercenaries didn't stand a chance.

Madison eyes widened. She didn't take the time to turn and be gunned down. Instead, she threw herself to the side and barely dodged the grenades of a Warden marauder. She cowered behind the cover of a desk and fired a string of bullets into the marauder, but the marauder acted as if nothing happened. There were some sparks, but there was neither blood nor flesh.

"What the...Ah!"

Madison collapsed with a hole between her eyes. Behind her, Jean returned her pistol back into her holster. If someone thought she wasn't dangerous due to her sex and size, they would be terribly wrong.

Inside the room, all the mercenaries were dead. The only two parties remaining were the Ruling Council and Jean's men, and only one side was armed.

Admiral Thorn stood up. He wasn't armed as well, but he was a soldier, and he was done with being treated as a captive who had absolutely no control of his own fate.

"I don't know who you are or what your connection to these men is, but you have saved us. If you let us go now, you will be hailed as a hero throughout the Protectorate. We will pay you handsomely."

Thorn wasn't blind. He was one of those who recognized Jean's voice. He knew there must be some conspiracy between Jean and the mercenaries, but through his words, he was telling Jean he was willing to forget about her conspiracy as long as she let them go now. Whether Jean believed his words was another matter, but Thorn gave Jean a choice.

Jean didn't answer. If she didn't want the senators to know her real identity, she wouldn't have came here herself in the first place. Her presence here meant she didn't care if the Umojan Ruling Council knew who she really was.

Instead of answering, she took out a small container from her modified armor and placed it in front of the Ruling Council.

"Restrict their movement without damaging their health." Jean had to be clear, otherwise the Warden marines might just blast open the captives' spines, which was something she didn't want to see.

The Warden marines tackled the senators and locked their arms behind their back. As the Ruling Council was defenseless, Jean opened the container.

Dozens of small insects crawled out.

Unlike normal villains who would endlessly babble about the deadliness of their weapons to their enemies, Jean went straight to action. The insects started crawling up the bodies of the senators. The Umojans resisted, but the Wardens didn't even budge. There was nothing those men and women could do as the insects crawled into their mouth and moved upward.

The zerg had two different ways of controlling those from other races. On one hand, zerg infestation could turn the victims into zerg in a cellular level. In some cases the victims would lose their mind. Side effects could include tentacles, pustules, and other gross parts. This method was usually used to create a large number of cheap combatants in a short period of time.

On the other hand, zerg infestors could control others with neural parasites. All the infestors had to do was insert a bug into their victims' brains, and these bugs would then take over the minds of the victims and make the slaves of the infestors. Neural parasite was much more discreet than infestation. There wasn't much difference between someone who fell victim to neural parasite and someone who didn't.

In this case, Jean used these neural parasite bugs to control the senators. She could enslave the entire Ruling Council and no one would know it.

Several senators collapsed with blood coming out of their mouths, eyes, and noses. Their mind weren't strong enough to handle the bugs. But the rest survived. Jean ordered the Warden units to stay back, and the senators stood up.

"Command me."

Jean got these bugs from Stukov, who has been expanding his brood in some distant planets. Stukov told Jean he made her the master of these bugs. Jean believed him. She really did. The hundreds of Warden marines behind her with their weapons aimed at the senators was just for show. After all, it was impossible that Stukov would order these bugs to control the senators to jump onto Jean and attempt to neural parasite her…

From the very beginning, Jean didn't want to truly make an alliance with Hancock. The admiral was greedy and unreliable. She was merely using him as a stepping stone to get to the Ruling Council.

Everything Jean promised Hancock, whether it was the dictatorship or total control over the Umojan Fleet, was a lie.

The admiral wouldn't be so happy to find that out, but Jean wasn't worried.

After all, there was no point in being concerned over a dead man.

A single a tap on her phone activated the Warden marines in Hancock's office...


	92. Chapter 92

"Two hours ago, a group of rogue mercenaries attacked the Senate Hall, leading to the death of seven hundred eighty-nine Umojan soldiers and government workers, as well as five senators. Fortunately, neither Councilor Jorgensen nor Admiral Thorn has been harmed. Both of them have returned to their post. In a press conference an hour after the event, Admiral Thorn told reporters the council will not be intimidated by the attack. This attack was an attempt by enemies of the people to shake our spirit, and they have failed."

"After a period of investigation, the Protectorate has identified the mastermind behind this attack as Admiral Hancock, the Vice Commander of the Umojan Fleet. Investigators have discovered evidence inside his personal computer that suggested the admiral provided cover for the mercenaries. Hancock's lieutenant also testified that the admiral delayed deploying the reinforcements on purpose. Admiral Hancock attempted to escape, and the military police officers sent to apprehend him were forced to execute him. While Admiral Hancock was not found guilty by a trial by jury, there has been enough evidence to convict him for treason and sentence him to death."

"During the press conference, Admiral Thorn also announced the High Council's decision to deploy our fleet to the zerg planet of Char. As of the moment, Char is besieged by the Dominion Fleet. Due to the harsh relationship between the Terran Dominion and the Umojan Protectorate, it is difficult to predict what will happen in the future."

"Tune in on channel 8 for the quickest update on the sector's affairs…"

Jean turned off the television and turned to the room filled by members of the Ruling Council.

"How is the public reacting to the recent news?"

"There have been some questions, but most people agreed with the decision to march on Char. They believed Hancock is the one behind this as well. Our propagandas have been effective."

Jorgensen replied obediently.

Ever since Jean took power two hours ago, she has been bombarding the public with information she wanted them to know. Normally, the media inside the Protectorate had more free speech, but this completely changed when someone as ruthless as Jean took over.

Jean had no moral limit. She controlled all the media on the planet in half an hour. Those who refused to work for her were forever silenced.

Under the one-sided social trend, the Umojan Fleet was mobilized. Men and women said goodbye to their families and set on a path against an enemy that has terrified the sector for years. All because of Jean's orders.

Some of them will not return.

"Report on our unit count if we keep the minimum number of units within the Protectorate." Jean demanded. If it was possible, she would take every single Umojan soldier with her to Char, but the Protectorate could still be useful to her. Its technology was something Jean couldn't afford to abandon. Plus, the Umojan soldiers wouldn't fight with all their heart if they knew their families were defenseless.

"As you wish. We will be able to add 250 battlecruisers into our invasion fleet, as well as 300,000 ground units. Since you ordered the total recall of all Warden units available, over 20,000 Warden units have been assimilated into the invasion fleet. All of our factories have been producing Warden units full time with all available resources. The Warden unit count is increased by 2000 every day."

This time it was Admiral Thorn who replied.

Jean nodded. She recalled all the Warden units as soon as she took control because she no longer needed to keep them around the Protectorate to defend against zerg infestation. Now, she could use these killing machines against the Swarm. Even better, she had the resource to produce Warden units in large scales. The Umojan weren't the richest, but when it had one mission, it was very productive in completing that mission.

"Might I ask a question, sir?" Thorn suddenly asked. The neural parasite bug in his brain didn't wipe out his personality. It simply made him ultimately loyal to Jean. That was, of course, unless Stukov decided he was tired of following Jean's orders.

"Speak."

"Bringing most of our ships to Char will leave the Protectorate defenseless. Both the Dominion and the Swarm will be occupied, but if the Kel-Morian Combine attacks us...those pirates have no regard for morale or the greater good of mankind. If they see a chance for profit, they'll strike."

Jean wasn't as worried. "There's no need. They will also be too occupied to do anything."

After taking over, Jean found no further need for Stukov's infested forces. In fact, Stukov has become relatively useless after his initial attack on the Protectorate. Jean could no longer order him to assault the Protectorate any further because she didn't want to damage her own forces. Maybe one day she would order Stukov to turn on the Umojans after she was done with them, but not today.

Still, the larger Stukov's army could grow, the better it was. Since the infested army needed to attack terran to grow in size, Jean turned them on the only terran faction available.

The Kel-Morian Combine.

It was still too early to say, but one thing for sure. The Kel-Morian would be too busy staying alive to attack the Umojan Protectorate.

* * *

 _The Dominion fortress. Char._

Ever since the Brood War, the Terran Dominion have tried to tame the Swarm. One-fifth of the Dominion Fleet was positioned at Char all year round. Under the command of the respected General Warfield, fleets of battlecruisers, some of them the most advanced in the Dominion, forged the first line of defense for mankind against the alien menace.

The Dominion fortress on a space platform in the high orbit of Char acted as a frontal base of operation. The guns mounted on the fortress bought some ground against the endless zerg.

Today, the already mighty Dominion Fleet was made even more deadly. A fleet of four hundred capital ships added to the two hundred fifty battlecruisers already on the planet. Nearly one million Dominion troopers manned these ships and made up the ground forces.

Inside the flagship of the smaller Dominion Fleet, Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk confronted General Horace Warfield.

"With all due respect, Prince Valerian, I haven't received orders from Emperor Mengsk about this...movement, for lack of a better word."

"My father doesn't know about my action. If he does, he will not agree to this." Valerian replied, not faltering from Warfield's words. As harsh as Warfield's words were, Valerian knew the general was a good man. He only wanted the best for the common people. "As bad as it sounds, my father has grown weak. Even when we had solid intel that the Swarm was occupied fighting a protoss faction, he refused to take the risk and deploy the fleet on Char."

"Therefore, as the Crown Prince and the future emperor of the Dominion, it is my duty to do what he failed to do and conquer the zerg threat."

Warfield frowned. Valerian might be the Crown Prince, but what he did, mobilizing dozens of fleets without even notifying the Emperor, could be considered as treason. Arcturus Mengsk wasn't the trusting kind. He could have Valerian executed with a single order.

Still, Warfield didn't care. There was a reason he, one of the mightiest generals in the Dominion, came to the hell-like world of Char rather than stayed back on the luxury planet of Korhal. He wanted the best for the people, and Valerian's arrival here was good for that purpose.

Before, he didn't have the manpower to launch a full-scale assault. Now, he had enough ships to make an attempt against Kerrigan.

Still, General Warfield wasn't as happy with the other visitor onboard.

"What's this pirate doing here?" He turned to a man in blue armor, who was glancing around the bridge. Behind him, a dozen red armored Dominion marines gripped to their weapons tightly.

James Raynor. The leader of Raynor's Raiders and the most infamous rebel in the Dominion. Also, Jean's first boss.

"Due to the unforeseen future of this assault, I have invited commander Raynor to assist us."

Valerian knew how deadly the Swarm is. As one of the most experienced people against the zerg, Raynor would be a useful asset. Plus, his knowledge and personal connection with Kerrigan might just save the day.

"Assist us? I have led five separate assaults against the Swarm. I have held my ground against the zerg when he and his terrorist friends hid behind a rock!" Warfield retaliated. He couldn't help but feel insulted by Valerian's lack of confidence in him. If it was General Davis here, she might just order Raynor to be arrested and executed. Warfield wasn't as radical as Davis, but he didn't give any respect to Raynor either.

Raynor didn't falter. He was in the middle of a Dominion battlecruiser which was above a Dominion fortress. If Warfield ordered his capture, he didn't have a chance of fleeing, but the large man wasn't intimidated. Hell, even a psionic blade inside his chest didn't put him down for long.

"The Swarm is a dangerous foe, and you need all your resource to fight them back." Raynor was about to continue when, all of a sudden, a series of alarms blared throughout the bridge.

"Report!" Warfield had no time to exchange insults with Raynor.

An officer reported in less than two seconds. The efficiency of Warfield's men was incredible.

"Sir, we have located multiple warp signals outside the guns of our fortress!"

"Are they zerg?"

Before the officer could answer, the entirety of the Umojan Expedition Fleet exited warp space.

Hundreds of white battlecruisers dotted around the flagship, a giant Gorgon, in the middle. Hercules, transport vessels large enough to hold thousands, were in the safety behind the cover of lines of capital ships and fighters. They carried the supplies, food and ammunition, the Umojan Expedition needed to maintain its combat abilities. As soon as the capital ships could, they projected out fleets of fighters and secured the perimeters. Ravens and science vessels made sure the fleet wouldn't be sneaked up upon by cloaked hostile fighters.

"What the hell?" Raynor frowned.

"This...this shouldn't be happening..." This was Valerian Mengsk.

"It's the Umojan Fleet." Warfield was rather calm. He quickly recognized the white armors and platings as that of one of the three major terran factions in the sector. "What are they doing here?" He turned to the Crown Prince, wondering if the young man made an alliance with the Umojans as well. It was possible. If Valerian could strike a deal with someone like Raynor, then he could do the same to a hostile foreign power.

Valerian shook his head. He wouldn't take the complements for something he didn't do.

"Sir, the Umojan ships have formed a defensive formation. They don't seem to be hostile."

"Maintain your guard, soldier. Officer, establish a communication with the Umojan commander. I want to know what they want."

The leader of the two fleets made contact.

"This is Admiral Thorn of the Umojan Fleet. Identify yourself."

Although Jean was the real leader of this fleet, on the surface Thorn was the commander. Jean didn't want the foot soldiers to wonder why an advisor was giving orders rather than the real general.

"Admiral Thorn, this is General Warfield of the Dominion Fleet. State your objective."

"General Warfield. It's been a pleasure." Thorn wasn't being sarcastic. If Warfield didn't lead the Dominion Fleet and pin the zerg back on Char, then chances were the Swarm might seek to expand toward the terran territories. The relatively vulnerable Umojan Protectorate would be one of the prime targets. Warfield wasn't impressed, and Thorn continued.

"The zerg Swarm is a threat to all mankind. This includes the Dominion and the Umojan, and now is the perfect chance to take them out." The Umojan commander explained. "I know the Dominion has had its differences with the Protectorate, but at a time like this, it is important for us to work together to terminate the common alien threat."

"Are you suggesting an alliance?" Warfield was surprised by the offer.

"Just this once. After we take down the Swarm, we will each go our separate ways."

"And your people are ok with this?"

"Both the Ruling Council and the common people have spoken. My action here is authorized."

Warfield started thinking.

"General, our odds against the Queen of Blades will be much greater with the help of the Umojan Fleet." Valerian suggested. Although he was the Crown Prince, he still needed Warfield's support to command the Dominion Fleet.

"Raynor's Raiders? The Umojans? Emperor Mengsk will not be happy." Warfield didn't want to get involved in politics, but even so he had to consider what Arcturus Mengsk might think about his call. One thing for sure. He wouldn't be glad about making a deal with two of the Dominion's enemies.

"My father's opinion is none of my concern." Valerian thought about it for a brief second before deciding. He knew this decision might cost him both his position and his power, but he decided it was nothing compared to the threat of the Swarm. If he could exchange his title as Crown Prince for the security of the Dominion, he would gladly do it.

Warfield nodded and turned back to Thorn. "In that case, welcome aboard."

"For the greater good of humanity." Thorn replied.

Behind Thorn, Jean tilted her head.


	93. Chapter 93

_Char._

On a creep covered hilltop, Sarah Kerrigan stared into a distance.

For nearly a week, through the psychic connection with the tens of thousands of overlords and overseers, she could see the Terran fleet assembling. Countless capital ships, in all three colors, were readying for war. Red dominion battlecruisers made up most of the combined fleet. White Umojan battlecruisers were fewer in numbers, but just from the looks of it, Kerrigan could tell they were much more technologically advanced. A couple blue battlecruisers were mixed among the group. They belonged to Raynor's Raiders. While they didn't have the number of the Dominion and the Umojans, the Raiders were willing to fight to the death for their belief.

Everyday, new ships would warp in within the sight of the overseers and enter the fortress. The exact number of ships inside the fortress was unknown, but Kerrigan counted over eight hundred already.

Just as Kerrigan watched, her vision suddenly went dark. An Umojan wraith on patrol mission gunned the overseer she controlled down.

As Kerrigan connected to the seventh overseer and sent it toward a suicidal run at the terran position, her thoughts started to turn.

This shouldn't be happening. Kerrigan knew the movement of the Dominion was what made the attack possible in the first place. Without the Dominion, the Umojans and the Raiders wouldn't stand a chance against even her personal fleet, much less the entire Swarm.

But there was no reason for the Dominion to strike. Mengsk didn't order an attack when the Swarm was at its weakest point, when it was tied up with the Death Fleet. If he launched a full scale attack rather than a simple covert mission to steal the artifact, Char would've fallen by now and the Queen of Blades would be a homeless refugee.

Why now?

As cunning as the Queen of Blades was, she had no way of knowing what went on with Valerian Mengsk and Jean Turner. She knew the Raiders have got all the pieces of the Keystone and probably has assembled the Keystone by now, but the Keystone wasn't invincible, and without an army behind his back, Raynor and his men would be wiped out before the artifact could be activated. She never expected the Dominion Fleet to back Raynor up.

The combination of the Dominion fleet and the Raider artifact could potentially end her.

Kerrigan quickly realized the cause didn't matter. If she held here, she could live to find out what happened. If she was killed, then none of it would matter anymore.

She closed her eyes again. The overseer was gunned down by a Raider viking. She kept on trying to gain more information by sending in agile, discreet scouts, but none of them were able to get past the terran patrol starfighters and get important information.

"My queen." Zagara encroached from behind. Her claws made a screeching sound as they tapped on the ground.

"I hope you bring good news." Kerrigan ordered without turning. As she herself was doing the thinking, she sent Zagara to summon all the other broodmothers in the Swarm. She dismissed them and ordered them to return to their planets and replenish their heavily damaged brood just a few days ago, and she was now forced to bring them back again. These broods weren't at their peak power, and sending them into battle would lead to heavy casualties, but Kerrigan no longer had the time to worry about casualties. If she, the Queen of Blades, was killed, then the Swarm would lose its purpose.

As long as she was still alive, even if 99.999% of the zerg was eliminated, there was still a chance for the Swarm.

But Zagara disappointed her queen.

"My queen, I have contacted the broodmothers. Strangely, I can't sense half a dozen broodmother's presence in the psionic network."

"What?" Kerrigan frowned. Sure, the zerg psionic network had its limitations. It might be difficult to contact a broodmother across half the sector. However, it wasn't that troublesome to get to a broodmother who was also in zerg territory.

"Are you saying the terran are blocking our psionic signal?"

"I don't believe so, my queen. I can still contact other broodmothers that are off Char."

"Then what is it?" Kerrigan suddenly grew impatient. She didn't have time for this. The terran could attack anytime.

"I believe the lost broodmothers are hunted down and executed by the terran."

Kerrigan suddenly realized something. She closed her eyes, and thousands of overseers positioned around the platform committed a suicidal charge at the terran fortress. Missiles, torpedoes, and batteries hit the overlords' carapace. The overseers didn't have any method of self defense, and they didn't need to. Their mission was to scout, and that was it.

Overseer after overseer were ripped apart in midair. Purple blood rained down on the metal terran floor. Eventually, one of the overseers got above the fortress.

It combusted when a pair of missiles hit it, but Kerrigan has already seen all she needed to see.

The terran fortress wasn't exactly empty, but it was much emptier than she expected. Instead of the giant fleet of eight hundred battlecruisers and around that number of support ships, Kerrigan only saw fewer than fifty battlecruisers, and most of them were of older, Behemoth, models.

All the Umojan and Dominion vessels, as well as the essence of the Dominion fleet, were gone.

Where did they go? Combined with what Zagara just told her, Kerrigan got to the answer with ease.

The terran pretended to be focusing their forces within the fortress, readying for a frontal attack on Char. This forced Kerrigan to keep all her ships and ground forces in a defensive formation around the planet's surface.

But in reality, the terran fleet went from planet to planet, taking out individual zerg broodmothers and wiping out their broods. Perhaps some of the broodmothers even obeyed Kerrigan's orders and prepared to move to Char. When they were attacked, away from their planetary defenses with what was left of their brood, the broodmothers were defenseless.

"My queen, what should we do?" Zagara questioned.

Kerrigan was pissed off, but her tactical side sensed an opportunity. If the main terran fleet was attacking the broodmothers, then it wasn't here on Char…

"Assemble the Swarm." Kerrigan turned around and commanded. "We'll attack the terran platform while its empty. The fortress will be defenseless." Her eyes turned purple. "Slay everyone aboard and infest them. These fools need to be taught a lesson."

* * *

Kerrigan was cautious. She only ordered the attack after she lost contact with another broodmother. This meant another broodmother was under attack, and this meant the fortress would be empty for a while.

When the terran receives the cry for help and returns, the fortress would have fallen already and every human being inside would be infested.

It would be too late. The terran would be forced to make a decision, whether it was attack or retreat. If they retreated, then the Swarm would have the time to recover. If they struck, then the expedition fleet would be fighting with only a small amount of ammunition and supply available. Without the ability to maintain a long term firepower, they wouldn't stand a chance against the endless Swarm.

Fifteen leviathans formed a wall as they advanced toward the terran entrenchment.

The battle with the Tal'darim destroyed two leviathans of Kerrigan's personal fleet and mortally wounded three more, reducing her leviathan count to fifteen.

Mutalisks and corruptors were spread out. Some of the scourges cowered behind heavily armed corruptors and used them as meat shields to tank the damage while others moved to as scattered as possible and tried to dodge the enemy firepower.

Their movement was discovered by terran scouts almost immediately. After all, how the hell was she supposed to move fifteen several kilometer long floating cities without being seen?

When the Swarm reached the fortress, the terran were ready.

Orbital defenses went online. Drakken cannons took aim at corruptors, ready to blast them out of the sky. These large caliber batteries could obliterate a corruptor in a single shot. There were only six of these massive, expensive weapons installed, but they were enough to dramatically impact the battle.

Missile turrets were less ambitious. Their target was the mutalisks and scourges.

Security forces converged on the fortress. Siege tanks entered siege mode while thors enabled their punisher cannons, allowing them to fire high impact projectiles that could blast enemy fliers out of the sky. They weren't as menacing as Drakken cannons, but it was fair to say that the thors were well worth their cost.

Dominion and Umojan Engineer Corps have set up auto-turrets all around the platform before the zerg even approached. These turrets were of smaller caliber than other terran guns, but they were more plentiful in numbers.

The fleet was scrambled. Nearly a thousand fighters, mostly red and white, lifted off into the air and joined a small fleet of fifty or so battlecruisers. The terran commander must have known that the fleet was insignificant compared to the zerg Swarm, because the battlecruisers and fighters were kept within orbital defense range.

Kerrigan smirked. The platform was well defended, and if the terran had its entire fleet here, then the zerg didn't have a chance of breaking through, but the terran commander have made the foolish choice of using his fleet to decimate the other broodmothers.

There was no way General Warfield would make such a foolish decision. Kerrigan has fought against Warfield many times, and she knew how cautious the general was. Whoever took command of the combined fleet, either Raynor or someone on the Umojan side, must be a fool.

"Push the attack." She ordered.

Leviathans charged forward at full speed. Kerrigan knew it was now or never. If she missed this opportunity, she wouldn't stand a chance when the terran fleet returns, so she ordered her underlings to act regardless of the casualties.

Drakken cannons blasted hole after hole on the leviathan's armor, spilling purple blood out from the wound. Apart from the blood, random, unfortunate zerg units stored in the leviathans fell out. These giant zerg beasts screeched in agony, but their speed didn't slow down.

The zerg were anything but defenseless. Spores were launched at the platform while a part of the zerg turned toward the small terran fleet. The rest dashed at the platform at full speed.

The terran resistance was fierce. Drakken cannons and missile turrets kept on firing, taking out zeg after zerg. Corruptors were blasted out of the sky. Mutalisks were shot down by thors and missile turrets. Drop pod after drop pod was projected at the platform, and half of them never made it to the surface.

But eventually the zerg were able to establish a foothold. They had reinforcement, and the terran didn't. As time passed, there were more and more zerg and less and less terran. Orbital defenses were destroyed. Siege tanks and thors were ripped open. The terran fleet lost most of its fighters.

Kerrigan watched as what was left of the battlecruisers jumped away. It wa a wise decision, considering if they departed half a minute later, they would be in pieces already.

Suddenly, her eyes widened. Something was wrong. She connected to a zergling and was shocked to realize despite slaughtering every terran unit on the ground, not a single human being was killed.

All of the casualties were...machines.

Siege tanks and thors didn't have pilots. She controlled the zergling and leaped on top of an abandoned thor and saw a "W" sign. The orbital defenses weren't controlled by human beings either. Strangely, they seemed to be monitored by some sort of AI.

Her mindless zerg underlings didn't find a problem with that. Even low level queens didn't seem bothered. After all, the terran have had a history of using AIs and machines to fight their battles. However, Kerrigan knew something was terribly wrong.

She has never seen a terran faction that used AIs and machines only to defend positions, especially those as important as the space platform. Why would someone do that? AIs were risky and somewhat unreliable. Even the most trusting commander wouldn't give a location as serious as the fortress to AIs only.

The Queen of Blades was seriously getting annoyed of this feeling, the feeling of losing control.

Suddenly, she came to a horrifying realization.

Why would the terran commander use AIs…

...because they're expendable.

"All units, fall back!"


	94. Chapter 94

_A distant planet far from Char._

A lonely leviathan floated in the air. It was wounded. A large hole was ripped open in its lower belly, where a squad of Tal'darim destroyers once performed a suicidal charge against. Countless drones harvested minerals and delivered them to the leviathan, who transformed the resource to energy and attempted to heal itself.

It was a painfully slow process.

A distance away, out of the patrol ring of the zerg mutalisks, three modified terran vessels exited warp space. All of them were equipped with cloaking fields. The amount of resource needed to cloak small starships like vikings and dropships was ineffective most of the time, but this time, it wasn't.

The first starship was a raven. The second was a viking. The third was a dropship.

The tiny squad was able to evade zerg detection via their small size and the expertise of the pilots. The viking and the raven remained in the air while the dropship landed on the planet below.

A Dominion ghost walked out. He was already cloaked.

At the same time, in the air, the cloaked raven enabled its advanced scanners. The ship's sensors started scanning the planet. They was aimed to target psionic signatures of broodmothers. Perhaps Kerrigan's personal brood could counter the raven's abilities, but a distant brood with only a single leviathan didn't have a chance against the peak of terran technology.

Upon locating the broodmother, the raven sent the location to the covert ghost, who sneaked forward. The raven helped him to evade spore crawlers and overseers, which weren't high in number in the first place. After all, most of the spore crawlers and overseers were brought to the battlefield against the Tal'darim, and almost all of them were slaughtered.

Even apart from the detection, the brood itself was hit hard. The lack of mutalisks and corruptors was one of the reasons why the terran hit squad got to the planet so easily. Even on the ground, the broodmother only had a handful of roaches and hydralisks. Her brood was a small one in the first place, and she didn't have much planetary defense to fall back on.

The ghost ran by a zergling before setting his eyes on the broodmother, who was dining on a bunch of minerals her underlings harvested.

Without a word, the ghost took out his gauss canister rifle, took aim at the broodmother, and pulled the trigger.

 _Piu._

The broodmother collapsed with a hole in her head. Once again, she was unprepared, and broodmothers weren't built for combat. They were built to be commanders behind lines and lines of protection. Broodmothers like Zagara had the resource to arm themselves, this broodmother didn't. The psionically powered round ended her life with ease.

Sensing the death of their overlord, the zerg units suddenly lost control. The zerg had a strange social structure. Most of the broods were directly loyal to their broodmothers, who were then ultimately loyal to Kerrigan. Even the Queen of Blades couldn't put trillions of zerg under her control at the same time. But this time, with the broodmother gone, the common zerg units went feral. Without command, they followed their instincts and attacked everything in their sight, including other zerg units.

In the original history, after Kerrigan was turned back to human, her personal Swarm units, those she summoned to Char to protect her and survived the Keystone onslaught, went rogue as well and massacred each other. According to Kerrigan's lieutenant Izsha, these zerg perished by the millions. Compared to that, what happened to this planet was just a piece of cake.

The ghost retreated as the brood went on a killing spree against itself. He retreated back into the dropship, which then lifted off and joined the raven and the viking. With the mission accomplished, the three starships warped away.

The viking was never put to use, but in reality, it carried a tactical nuclear missile inside. If the defenses were too much for the ghost, the viking would fire the nuke at the broodmother and kill her near instantly.

Normally a small brood like this wasn't worth the time and resource, but the strike team wasn't there for the brood itself. Instead, they were there for a much grander purpose.

* * *

Kerrigan's response was quick, but it wasn't quick enough.

Suddenly, the space platform the zerg just overwhelmed simply crumbled apart. A series of small explosions went off around the major supporting points, sending the entire platform into pieces.

Even worse, the artificial gravity system was gone as well. As mutated as the zerg were, they couldn't move in a zero gravity zone like they do on the surface of a planet. All the zerg on the planet were sent flying around with no control over their body.

A few leviathans moved toward the platform and tried to save as many zerg as possible, but Kerrigan knew she couldn't afford to waste her time on something as useless.

"Leave them! Warp back to Char now!"

It was too late.

Fleet after fleet warped in all around the Swarm. 250 white Umojan cruisers were on the top and the bottom. 650 red Dominion cruisers covered all four sides. Vikings and wraiths were projected out of the capital ships and formed clouds of white and red in between the battlecruisers.

Nine hundred terran battlecruisers surrounded fifteen leviathans.

Inside the Umojan bridge, seeing that the enemy has fallen into the trap, Jean gave the order to strike.

The whole thing was a setup. Kerrigan naturally thought Jean sent out her entire fleet to take out individual zerg broods. That was what Jean wanted her to think. Instead of mobilizing her entire fleet, she used Dominion covert ghost operatives and Umojan high tech vessels to perform surgical strikes on the zerg broods. To make things more believable, Jean ordered the strike teams to use methods like snipes and nukes that could instantly severe the connection between the broodmothers and Kerrigan. She even deployed countless patrols to keep the zerg overseers out, pretending like she wanted to hide the emptiness of the platform. Kerrigan was more likely to believe in something Jean tried to hide.

The plan worked. Placing herself in Kerrigan's shoes, Jean concluded she would try to break out of the stalemate using this opportunity. The zerg couldn't withstand the combined terran fleet, and Kerrigan wasn't the type to sit back and pray for the best. She would no doubt launch an attack on the seemingly vulnerable platform to cripple the terran assault.

Truth to be told, Jean planned on leaving several thousand biological terran units on the platform. She never assumed Kerrigan to be a fool, and when she realized not a single terran unit on the platform was a real human being, she would turn and run. If Jean could sacrifice a couple thousand men and make Kerrigan believe this was anything but a trap, the Queen of Blades would no doubt attempt to fortify the conquered platform and use it as a staging area when the terran fleet comes back. If Jean could blow the platform up then, after Kerrigan moved all her orbital defenses and ground units on top, she could wipe out a significant portion of the Swarm.

Unfortunately, neither Warfield and Raynor was thrilled when Jean hinted of the idea, so the girl backed off. The Dominion FLeet and the Raiders were worth more than a portion of zerg orbital defenses.

Plus, the combined fleet has already sent out cloaked wraiths to monitor the zerg movement. When they tried to fall back, the fleets were called in.

The combined fleet cornered the Swarm. More importantly, the battle was taking place away from Char, which meant the zerg didn't have support from orbital defenses. They couldn't even retreat or flee. Plus, the terran didn't have to fight on hostile ground, which would amplify terran casualties.

The advantage in numbers of the Swarm was crippled either. When a leviathan was shot down, it didn't matter if there were one million zerg aboard or ten million.

"All units, proceed with the plan." Warfield gave the command as well. The battle plan was delivered to the captains and commanders of each battlecruiser and other larger starships. Everyone knew what their job was.

The terran had both a superior firepower and a superior position. All the battlecruisers were turned to the side so the most number of laser batteries could open fire. In an instant, tens of thousands of rounds were launched at the Swarm. Orange laser batteries fell on the leviathans like rain.

The giant beasts screeched as their outer carapace were melted, but that was just the first wave, Within just a second, another wave of batteries arrived.

And then another.

Leviathans might be able to survive for a while, but the lighter zerg flyers shared no such luck. Corruptors, with their large bodies, couldn't do much to take cover. Some tried to hide themselves behind leviathans, but even that didn't work as the terran fleet surrounded the Swarm from all directions. Even if the corruptors could hide themselves behind a leviathan and survive the firepower from one direction, the rounds from the other three directions, and from the top and bottom, would set it aflame.

Mutalisks and scourges were smaller and more agile, but that wasn't a good thing. Sure, they were fast, but what could their speed do when every piece of space within the twenty kilometer radius was covered by fire? They moved the fastest they could, only to run into death.

Overlords and overseers were even worse. At least corruptors and leviathans could attempt to return a couple spores at the terran, but these psionic command units were gunned down completely defenselessly. Once again, their speed did nothing to help.

Their demise stressed Kerrigan's ability to control her Swarm. The Queen of Blades could directly control all the units in her personal fleet, but if she wanted them to do complex moves, it would take the overlords. With the overlords gone, the zerg movement turned much more clumsy.

"Push forward!" Kerrigan knew it was now or never. The terran command really surprised her. Deep down at the back of her head, she thought the terran would try to land on Char, establish a position, and use the Keystone on her and the Swarm. Deep down, she never considered the terran would try to settle the score in space with a clash between two fleets. The Keystone's power was close to gone in space. It could still work, but normally battles in space were much quicker that battles on the ground. By the time the Keystone was fully charged, the battle would already be over. Plus, if the Keystone was mounted on a battlecruiser and the ship was destroyed, then the precious artifact might just be lost.

Which type of idiot would abandon her best weapon and engage into a fist fight with the Swarm?

In the original history, the Dominion Fleet was no match for the Swarm Fleet. This forced the terran to land on Char and try to hold the line. This time things were different. Thanks to Jean, the Swarm was weaker and the terran was stronger. Kerrigan, as cunning as she was, still had some trouble of transitioning from the most powerful being in the sector to someone under siege. It was reasonable. She had been invincible for four years. Even after the battle against the Tal'darim and seeing the terran might, she still subconsciously believed the terran would put the Keystone to use. Otherwise why would they go through all the trouble of putting it together?

But this time, the combined fleet was mostly directed by someone who didn't enjoy relying on some ancient Xel'naga artifact. Jean knew what the artifact was capable of, but she still favored using the fleets to engage the Swarm.

Right now, the only chance of the Swarm was to engage the terran in close quarter combat. That way, the zerg units the leviathan held could attempt a boarding. There was no way the Swarm could win a shootout against the terran fleet, not in this situation.

The advantage of psionically controlled units was fully demonstrated. Leviathans charged forward despite all odds. The psionic network of the Swarm allowed the leviathans to form somewhat of a cube, protecting the vulnerable, smaller flyers in the center. This drastically reduced the casualties. Nearly all the laser fires were tanked by the leviathans.

"All fighters prepare for combat. Security forces, patrol the hull and prepare to repel enemy drop pods." Warfield glanced at Jean. "Anything to add, Miss Cassidia?"

At first, when Thorn brought this adviser Cassidia into the ring of decision makers, Warfield wasn't impressed. This wasn't a place for junior officers to speak. He grew even more frustrated when he realized Jean was rather pretty. A part of him was afraid Jean got to where she was with her look, not her skills. If that was the case, listening to her would be a waste of precious time.

His opinion changed when Jean proposed the idea. He had to admit, the plan was outside the box. Everyone, terran and zerg, expected an assault on Char. Warfield, Raynor, and Thorn were already discussing where the landing areas should be. No one would expect something like this.

It wasn't Warfield's fault. This era was a time period when brute force was more important than tactics. A strong fleet could trump most of the secret plans. He was a good general, but mostly he was good at army control and positioning. He wasn't known for playing into the mind of the enemy.

After that, he wasn't shy from asking Jean for opinion, and Jean wasn't shy from providing ideas.

"How many tactical nukes do we have?"

"1325. Why?"

That was a lot of nukes, but they weren't that effective against the Swarm. Both spores and tentacles could stop the nuclear missiles before they reach their target, and even terran laser batteries might shoot them down. Usually, nuclear missiles were used against either civilian planets or enemies who had no aerial power. Plus, nukes weren't that good in terms of single target damage, and it would take dozens of them to take down a single leviathan. The radiation of the nukes would be useless against the zerg.

Warfield didn't think these nukes could change anything.

Jean thought differently.


	95. Chapter 95

A leviathan took a deep dive downwards. The laser batteries were already tough to handle, and things went even worse when the entire terran fleet loaded up its Yamato Cannons and opened fire.

The leviathans were massacred. Hundreds of Orange balls of plasma melted their way through these cities. Everything in their way, carapace, flesh, bones, and other zerg units, were reduced to ash.

If the leviathans were carriers or Gorgon battlecruisers, they would've been in pieces already, but the leviathans were larger than most of the other capital ships in the sector. They ranged for over ten kilometers, and even if the Yamato Cannons destroyed one or two kilometers of the ship, the rest of the leviathan could still live. While battlecruisers would've crumbled with ten percent of its body gone, the zerg nature of the leviathans kept the heavily wounded alive and moving.

That leviathan was one of the three leviathans unlucky enough to take more hit than they could handle. All three ships, or what was left of them, floated aimlessly into space.

"All ships at Area A3, evasive warping now!" Warfield commanded with haste. The battlecruisers right in front of the falling leviathan corpses blinked and warped to a safe distance away, saving them from the fate of being crushed by the zerg cities.

Zerg units, dead and alive, floated out of the corpses. The sight of banelings and hydralisks and roaches and ultralisks floating around the battlefield was a spectacular sight.

The rest of the leviathans weren't taken back by their comrades' demise. They continued charging into the hail of laser batteries. Fortunately, the battlecruisers didn't have the time to fire another round of Yamato Cannons.

Unfortunately, as they got closer, the leviathans were forced to face even more enemy fire than before. With the help of advanced targeting systems, almost all of the shots found their way to their target.

Tens of thousands of wraiths and vikings were already in vertical phalanxes. Before the battle, Jean and Warfield have came up with a detailed schedule that fit every fighter into a vertical plane, allowing all the fighters to aim their guns at the zerg.

"Open fire!"

"Waste these bastards!"

Torpedoes, missiles, and more laser batteries were added to the battlecruiser guns.

Another leviathan fell, along with hundreds of thousands of zerg aboard. On Char, these hundreds of thousands of zerg could take out armies of terran. Up here, they were merely the background music.

"Sir, they're ramming straight at us!" A Dominion lieutenant reported.

Battlecruisers were mighty, but they could never survive a collision with enemy vessels half a dozen times their size. The biological nature of the leviathans made them even stronger in the event of a collision whereas battlecruisers were designed to defend against projectiles rather than physical contact. The battlecruisers would be knocked over like toy cars in front of a real car.

Plus, the Swarm was desperate. The Queen of Blades was willing to risk every single one of her ship to get to safety, but the Terran Dominion couldn't afford to take the losses. If the Dominion Fleet was too badly damaged, it could mean invasion from other factions hostile to the Dominion.

"Evasive actions." Warfield ordered.

Individual battlecruisers performed short ranged jumps to get out of the way of the leviathans.

"They can't get away."

Raynor commented. His Raiders were practically useless in this circumstance. For the moment, all he could do was provide some tactical support, but even that part seemed to be covered by this female lieutenant from the Umojan Fleet.

"Wait a second...they're preparing for jump!" Warfield suddenly realized something as he looked at the scanners. The energy signature of the leviathans started peaking, but that was odd. Only leviathans were capable of warping. If Kerrigan really chose to flee, she would be abandoning all her corruptors, mutalisks, scourges, and overlords. It would be a painful blow.

Jean's eyes twitched.

"They're not leaving…"

The dozen or so leviathans suddenly entered warp space, revealing corruptors and mutalisks that were previously protected. Vikings, wraiths, and battlecruisers fired freely. Their pilots were confused by what happened, but that confusion didn't stop them from blasting the zerg apart. Thousands of zerg fell every second.

But that didn't last long. Just as Warfield and Raynor were about to ask Jean what she meant, the dozen or so leviathan reappeared. This time, they were right beside the terran battlecruisers.

"All ships evasive jump now!" Warfield commanded, but it was too late. The leviathans charged into the middle of the terran fleet. Battlecruisers were tipped over before exploding into balls of flames. Vikings and wriaths simply fell apart. Some pilots reacted quickly and got out of the way of the leviathans, but they failed to get out of the way of the tentacles. With a speed several times faster than the vikings, the tentacles grabbed onto the vikings and crashed them with their pilots inside.

Screams and cries for help covered the radio. Even elite Dominion soldiers couldn't keep calm in front of absolute death. Not all of them was called Jean Turner. In fact, none of them was.

Inside both the Umojan and the Dominion flagship, crew members and officers ran around like headless chickens, trying to contribute to the battlefield as much as they could.

"Keep calm!" Jean was much logical. "This is an opportunity. The zerg are separated into two groups. Their light flyers are defenseless. We have the numbers and the firepower to surround and terminate them!" Her voice was ice cold. She saw the number of casualties grow and she didn't care.

Warfield knew what the situation was as well. He wasn't new to the casualties, but he merely lost hs calm when he saw several Dominion battlecruisers falling. They didn't seem much in the grand scale, but each one of them had thousands of crew members aboard. Tens of thousands of young men and women just passed away in a few seconds, and he couldn't help but hold himself responsible. As experienced as he was, it took him several seconds to recover to the state of absolute calm.

Two Umojan battlecruisers fell as well, but Jean didn't give a damn. To a degree, Jean was a better commander than Warfield.

Warfield gave the orders. Fleets of battlecruisers converged and targeted the leviathans from a safe distance away while other battlecruisers turned on the mutalisks and corruptors, who made a kamikaze at the terran armada. They knew they were abandoned, but their absolute loyalty to Kerrigan convinced them to do whatever they could to contribute to the Swarm.

Viking, wraiths, and battlecruisers didn't yield.

And the battle continued.

Jean watched silently. The leviathans stood strong. She had to admit. Kerrigan was a tough foe. Even after all the weakening, from fighting the Tal'darim to not having support of her fellow broodmothers to being forced away from the home turf of Char to being completely surrounded by the combined terran fleet, Kerrigan still proved to be a semi-equal enemy against the terran. Keep in mind most of the terran here were the best of the Dominion Fleet, but still ship after ship was destroyed.

Finally, Warfield was tired of the losses. He moved an entire fleet of Gorgon battlecruisers into the field. With extra armor and larger sizes, these Gorgons had a greater chance of survival against the zerg.

Unknown to Warfield, that was exactly what Kerrigan wanted.

The Queen of Blades knew she would never make it back to Char in one piece. Short ranged jumps could be done with ease, but she couldn't jump to Char with short ranged jumps because it was simply too far away. If she tried, at the best case scenario, she would lose half her fleet by the terran firepower on the way back. She could do a long range jump, but it would take a long time of preparation. Plus, they needed to clear the area in front of the zerg fleet for a long ranged jump. By the time they got everything ready, they would be dead already. The terran weren't stupid. They would do everything they could to keep the zerg here.

Fight or flight. If she couldn't flight, she could only fight. Back on Char, Zagara has already summoned all the broodmothers. If the terran fleet was here the entire time, then most of the broods were still alive. They should be coming to reinforce now. If Kerrigan could survive until the reinforcing broods arrive, she might still have a chance.

Competing firepower with eight hundred terran battlecruisers was nothing short of stupid, but the zerg had its advantages, and Kerrigan intended on putting these advantages to their full effect. She knew she only had one opportunity with what she had in mind, and the Minotaurs weren't valuable enough to be targets.

Gorgons were quite the opposite.

As soon as the Minotaur battlecruisers backed off and were replaced by Gorgon battlecruisers, the zerg leviathans made their move.

Dozens of tentacles, previous hidden inside the leviathans, were swung out and slammed into the Gorgons' armors. These tentacles were dozens of meters long and several meters wide. They were at their peak condition because Kerrigan kept them out of battle the entire time. Once put into action, they formed hole after hole in the enhanced terran plating. They weren't strong enough to break through the armor completely and destroy the Gorgons, but it was enough.

These tentacles grabbed onto the Gorgons and held them in place, keeping them from warping away or even flying away.

"What the…" One of the Gorgon captains complained, but his words were quickly cut off by what happened next.

Thousands of drop pods, previously prepared, were tossed at the openings the tentacles formed. Some missed their target and hit the battlecruisers' platings and exploded, barely denting the armor, but the rest made it into the battlecruisers.

Inside the Gorgons, drop pod after drop pod erupted. Elite zerg units emerged.

"All personnel, suit up! Security forces repel the enemy! All crew members remain at your positions! For the Dominion!"

Groups and groups of marines and marauders were deployed to the points of contact. Crew members did their best to forget about their personal safety and concentrate on manning the battlecruisers.

Gunshots, screams, and growls rang through the entire fleet of Gorgons.

Warfield found himself in a painful position. The leviathans were too heavily armored for the battlecruisers to kill quickly with just their batteries. At this close of a distance, Yamato Cannons were rendered useless. He could order his ships to fall back to a safe distance and then blast the leviathans to pieces of floating debris, but with all the Gorgons trapped, that decision would mean condemning the entire fleet of Gorgon battlecruisers to its death. Warfield couldn't and wouldn't make that call.

"Kerrigan's trying to buy time. We should fall back." Jean suggested. If it was just her leading a fleet of Warden battlecruisers, she would just order the fleets to fall back, abandon the trapped, and then open fire on the trapped battlecruisers and the leviathans alike. Unfortunately, most of the combined fleet was composed of Dominion ships. She needed Warfield to make that call, but she doubted the good general would listen.

Things went on like she expected.

"We can't leave the Gorgons." He replied.

Jean wasn't defeated or insulted. Both emotions could do more harm than good. "Then we launch a counterattack. We board the leviathans and take out Kerrigan inside her flagship. Without the Queen of Blades, the Swarm will be leaderless. It will no longer be as big of a threat."

If the ships' guns couldn't do it, then she might just have to solve the problem the old fashioned style.

Warfield coughed on surprise. "Are you serious? Kerrigan's flagship will be packed with zerg. Neither my men nor yours can establish a staging area, much less attack and kill the Queen of Blades."

Jean turned around and said something into her earpiece before returning to Warfield and Raynor. "True, but I have an army who can. We have to try. If the Swarm comes to reinforce, we might lost the best chance to take down the Queen of Blades." She knew this could get to Warfield.

"Fine. I will deploy a strike team to support your men." Warfield agreed. As much as he didn't want his men to charge into a sea of zerg and meet their end, the Queen of Blades was a bigger threat. Attack now, and thousands might die. Hesitate, and perhaps billions would perish. The commander knew what his choice should be.

Both Jean and Warfield turned to Raynor. While the Raiders didn't have a fleet, they didn't become the bane of the Dominion by being weak. Their mercenaries and other soldiers were among the best terran ground forces.

But Raynor seemed to be blanked out for the moment.

Warfield frowned. In the original version of history, he would frown upon Raynor at first, but then appreciate his presence and hand him command of the Dominion Fleet after he himself was wounded by a hydralisk and then saved by Raynor. In this version, it was completely different. Warfield was never put into a life threatening situation, and Raynor never saved him. The Dominion general trusted Jean more than he trusted Raynor.

When he saw Raynor hesitate, Warfield felt insulted. Both Dominion and Umojan men were dying for humanity, and now Raynor was holding his men back and keeping them safe? Perhaps Raynor was no different than any other pirate in the sector. He only had self interest in mind.

What neither of them knew was that Raynor was having a flashback. For a moment, his memory went back to someone else.

A lieutenant. Jean Turner.

Jean and this Umojan officer Cassidia had so much in common. Both were efficient. Both advocated for an aggressive way of action. Both were brilliant tacticians. Jean was obviously good, and this Cassidia was giving suggestions to General Warfield, and most of those suggestions turned out to be good ones. Hell she was even able to trick and ambush the Queen of Blades. Even more, both were young, blonde women. Raynor knew Cassidia wasn't Jean. The two looked different, and he knew Jean was dead. Eventually, Mira told Horner the news, who told Raynor.

"Commander Raynor?" Warfield demanded. He wasn't going to let the Raiders remain untouched while his own Dominion men sacrificed their lives.

"Yes. I will personally lead a squad." Raynor recovered from the flashback. Seeing the situation, he quickly replied. His answer surprised Warfield. He didn't expect Raynor to put himself into such a dangerous position. This made him slightly change his impression on the commander of the Raiders.

"Be careful, Commander Raynor." He finally suggested. Whoever Raynor used to be, now he is a champion of the terran race.

"I will." Raynor gave one last glance at Jean before turning off the comm. With that being done, the rebel leader turned to captain Horner. "Assemble a strike team. Also, prepare the alien artifact for transport. If it does what Valerian said it does, then at the end of the day, I might just get Sarah back."

Sarah Kerrigan. The Queen of Blades. Also, Raynor's formal girlfriend.


	96. Chapter 96

A fleet of twelve modified corvettes approached the leviathans from the bottom.

"Wow. I've heard how advanced the Umojans are but I have to say I'm impressed."

Raynor commented as he scanned the inside corvette.

Behind him were three hundred men in blue. Half of them were mercenaries. The rest were simply Raiders. At first he considered bringing some Warden units with him, but he changed his mind after he saw something from the Umojans. A large case was beside him. Blue light shined out of the gaps all around the suitcase.

Beside the Raiders were two hundred Warden units. The only thing differentiating them from Raider Warden units was the fact that they were in white armor rather than blue ones. Also, Umojan Warden units were much more well equipped than Raiders ones. While Raynor had to be a mercenary to maintain his military forces, the Umojans had their own taxing and industrial systems. Even before Jean took power, she was able to use the infested threat to convince the Ruling Council to pour countless resource into the Wardens. After she took power, all the factories in Umoja were ordered to construct Warden units at full power. The resulting units were both superior in both quality and quantity than their Raider counterparts.

Raynor didn't bother to question the Umojans why they had Warden units that Jean invented. He knew the Raiders weren't exactly capable in the field of counterintelligence. The Dominion had ghosts. The Umojans had shadowguards. Both weren't shy to use these covert units to both steal technology from other factions and keep other factions from stealing their own tech. The Raiders had nothing. It would be easy for the Umojans to get information on the Raiders. Plus, mercenaries hired by the Raiders have seen Warden units in action, and they weren't the best at keeping secrets. Buy them a drink, and they would tell you everything they knew. Even if just one of the mercenaries leaked the idea of an army of mechanical units, controlled by AIs, to the Umojans, it was enough to start an entire project.

The technical part rose even less question. Everyone knew the Umojans were the most advanced in terms of technology and warbots.

Raynor might decide to go for a mole hunt to end this leak of information, eventually, but this wasn't a concern right now.

All twelve corvettes were equipped with cloaking fields. Jean designed and constructed them for boarding missions that require stealth rather than brute force. While thousands of drop pods might be enough to break through the enemy lines, sometimes the enemy firepower and carapace was just too much.

This was the case here.

As the leviathans and the Gorgons traded rounds, the corvettes sneaked to the bottom of Kerrigan's flagship.

Suddenly, two of the leviathan's tentacles turned toward the corvettes. Cloaking fields were brilliant, but the leviathans weren't defenseless against cloaked flyers either. Detections were able to catch a scent of the corvettes, and the tentacles reacted.

"Enable defensive matrix!" An elite pilot of the corvette Raynor was in ordered. Jean spent big money on these specialized transports. Apart from the cloaking fields and warp drives, Jean even gave these corvettes the defensive matrix of battlecruisers. All these equipment came with a price, as they exhausted the ship's energy storage quickly, rendering the ships incapable of long time combat, but their ability was certainly worth the cost.

The tentacles bounced off the green defensive matrixes. They tried to come back for another run. Several spore crawlers rooted at the bottom of the leviathans and started opening fire. But the corvettes were already ready for action.

The corvettes had sharp tips, and they weren't just for show. The ships' engines were turned to full power, and the tips of the corvettes were jammed into the leviathans.

A single tap from the pilots sent the tips opening to the sides and cutting through everything in its way, revealing several openings.

Terran units poured out of these openings.

The Raiders and the Wardens weren't the only ones on this mission. With them was a squad of Dominion strike team, led by a Dominion colonel.

Say what you want about the Dominion soldiers, but they had courage. Warfield deployed one thousand men into the field. Among them were three squads of ghosts. The rest were the best of the best as well. They might not be as good as Dominion Special Forces, but they were still hand picked from hundreds of thousands of men from the entire Dominion Fleet under Warfield's command.

Jean sent twelve corvettes. Each held five hundred men. It was six thousand in total.

They would be facing hundreds of thousands of the best of the Swarm.

"Formation! Advance!" A Warden Command Unit ordered. Out of the six thousand attackers, forty eight hundred of them were Wardens. Immediately, they formed lines and lines of steel and started moving down the creep covered halls.

Kerrigan sensed the boarding parties the moment the first terran boot hit the creep. The terran assaulters barely had time to settle in when they felt the ground shaking.

"Prepare for…" Raynor started, ready for action, only to get cut off.

"All Warden units, defensive formation! Terminate all zerg units."

"Affirmative." Countless voices resonated.

The ground continued to shake. If they weren't on an alien spaceship, the terran would think they were facing an earthquake. This wasn't an earthquake, but it might be much worse than an earthquake. Countless zerg came out of every corner of the leviathan and poured down the halls. Their speed was amplified by the creep beneath them.

The Warden units fired as soon as their AIs recognized the zerg units were in range. Marines constantly unloaded on the zerg in the front. In a surprising transformation, the first line's body transformed. Their legs and body came together, forming a machine that occupied as little space as possible. The combat shield was put in the front. The marine's head was just over the combat shield, allowing it to see the enemies as well as open fire on them with the gauss rifles that were placed on top of the combat shields.

In essence, these Warden units looked more like minimized moving fortresses than marines.

The second line made a similar transformation, only their shields and rifles were above those of the first line. The third was at the normal height of the marines, with the rifles and shields over the head of the first and the second line.

Jean made these modifications back on Umoja. While maintaining their combat abilities as marines, Jean made sure she could make them as efficient as possible in a situation that required as much firepower as possible. The mechanical nature of the Warden units made things impossible for biological marines possible.

This meant three times the damage of normal marines.

Zerglings fell like flies. Hydralisk did their best to shoot their spines, but the only target their spines could find were shields and guns, and neither target was ideal. Even if some spine penetrated the shields and fractured the Warden armors, they failed to do much. Machines don't get completely destroyed by a single shot to the arm or to the leg.

Even roaches couldn't survive firepower this dense long enough to get close enough to the terran to spit acid on them.

It was a massacre. Across all the sides of all the landing sites, the zerg were losing hundreds of units every second. If it was on a plain, then perhaps the zerg could take better trades, but inside the halls of the leviathan, the points of engagement were limited. Thousands of zerg were forced to go through corridors which only allowed several hundred zerg at once, and when some zerg were lucky enough to be in the front, they were gunned down before they could do anything. Those that replaced them immediately suffered a similar fate.

The fact that the zerg fought on a home front turned the tide a bit. Kerrigan was able to gather several ultralisks and toss them at one of the Warden lines, but the Warden Command Unit on site already had everything figured out.

The first line of Warden units transformed back into their marine form and jumped in front of the ultralisks. Instead of shooting, these marine units simply exploded. The reactors installed in their CMC armors were overloaded, generating enough power to create quite an explosion.

The ultralisks were blasted back by the explosion. The entire time they were continuously targeted by Warden marauders. Even with layers of carapace, most of these ultralisks were torn apart.

Suddenly, from the smoke, one final ultralisk emerged. It was maimed, but it was still moving, and a single ultralisk inside the Warden lines was more than enough to change the tide of battle. There wasn't much Warden units could do in a melee against an ultralisk.

The Command Unit's eyes flashed, and the next second the ultralisk collapsed with a hole in its carapace a little to the left of its head. It was where its brain was.

Ultralisks had their brains located at random parts of their body to make sure they could take as much damage as possible. Unfortunately, Warden Command Units were able to render those designs useless with their advanced scanners.

As soon as that was done...in the back of the Warden marines and marauders, a Warden ghost reloaded its weapon.

Jean wasn't able to create mechanical units which could use psionic energy, but she was able to use technology to create replacements. For example, instead of C-10 canister with the ability to fire psionically powered bullets, these Warden ghosts had railguns. Modified railguns were capable of punching through even the heaviest armor. With great power comes a great price. The recoil and the weight could kill a fully armored biological terran even before the enemies do.

Warden ghosts didn't share the same problem. Their arms were designed to handle the railguns.

EMP grenades didn't realize psionic energy in the first place. Warden ghosts replaced psionic blades with plasma blades. Their AIs were programmed to use all these weapons effectively. Perhaps in a straight up fight against a terran ghost, the Warden ghosts weren't as competent, but keep in mind ghosts require decades of training. More importantly, ghosts could only be created from psionically gifted individuals, which were extremely rare. The entire Dominion population of billions and billions only yielded a couple thousand ghosts.

As for Warden ghosts...Jean didn't have a single one of them when she arrivedato Umoja. Now, a few months later, she had hundreds of them scattered around her Warden army.

The zerg pushed on, but the tens of thousands of casualties only bought them a few more meters of ground. Bodies were starting to pile up, creating a barrier that blocked the zerg's path and aided the terran cause.

The Dominion forces and the Raiders looked at their leader in amazement. Their Umojan allies seemed to be dealing with the zerg by themselves already. In that case, why were they even here?

The Dominion Colonel leading the attack was slightly taken back. As an officer, he saw much more than the victory at hand. For example, he was well aware the Dominion was no real friend with the Umojans. The stronger the Umojans were, the more threatened the Dominion was.

Then again, at this moment, inside the heart of the Swarm, the Umojans might be the least of the Dominion's problems.

Zerg kept on pouring in. Some of the Warden units have ran out of ammos. When they did, they charged forward and self destructed, taking down another pile of zerg with them. The opening their departure left was covered by fresh Warden reinforcement from behind.

But there was just too much zerg. There were hundreds of thousands of zerg on the ship, and there were less than five thousand Warden units. The positioning saved the terran, but it won't hold forever. After all, the terran needed not only to survive but also push forward and hunt down Kerrigan.

He thought of ways to help, but there was very little his men could do. If he tried to replace Warden units with Dominion ones, it would even decrease the amount of overall firepower.

Raynor was different. He knew just how to help.

"Set up the Keystone and start charging it up." He ordered, and Raiders behind him started working.

If the Warden units could hold their ground long enough for the Keystone to be charged up and fired, he could effectively wiped out not just this leviathan but also turn Kerrigan back into terran. This would practically eliminate the zerg threat.

Kerrigan knew that as well, which was why she decided to get her hands dirty.


	97. Chapter 97

"We can hold this." The Dominion colonel said with some confidence. In front of him, the zerg corpses have pretty much blocked the entrances completely. The Warden units saw this and, for the sake of efficiency, decreased their firepower so it's just enough to keep the zerg back.

As far as the man could see, the zerg were out of options.

And then Kerrigan happened.

A yellow beam of psionic energy ripped the wall of zerg corpses apart and smashed into the first line of Warden marines. Combat shields and CMC armors were torn to pieces. Warden AIs perished before they could do anything.

That wasn't the end. The beam, after massacring half a dozen Warden units, bounced and slammed into another group of Wardens. And then another. When the energy wave died down, over thirty Warden units were destroyed. Mechanical bodies were scattered all across the floor.

That was just the beginning. As the Queen of Blades walked through the entrance, she was followed by a literal tide of zerg, who poured in through the openings Kerrigan created.

"What the hell...how are we supposed to win this?" The Dominion colonel was taken back. It was one thing to see a tide of zerg streaming down into a wall of terran steel and get gunned down. It was another to see a single individual slaughtering dozens with a single strike. Plus, the majority of the attack was used to clear the entrance, and just the energy that remained were enough to create more damage than the zerg swarm ever could in a full minute.

Then again the colonel knew he shouldn't expect any less from the infamous Queen of Blades.

The Dominion officer was taken back, but Warden units weren't. Their AIs were simply incapable of demonstrating the emotion of fear. The Warden Command Unit accessed the information on the Queen of Blades in the Warden archive, developed a battle plan, and sent the battle plan to every Warden unit on the leviathan.

Twenty Warden marines charged forward and self destructed, wiping out the first wave of the zerg flood. As the suicide bombers cleared the stage, the rest of the Warden marines and marauders focused fire on Kerrigan.

Kerrigan let loose a war cry. Bullets and grenades clashes with her carapace, but they did little damage. Whatever damage they did mended almost immediately. It took much more than a few conventional weapons to kill one of the most powerful beings in the sector.

The Queen of Blades leaped forward. Her spines radiated purple psionic energy. In less than a second, she would land among the Warden rank and let loose a massacre.

That was when, in midair, three railgun rounds smashed into her.

"Uh." Kerrigan was tossed back by the impact. Three large, gaping wounds appeared on her body. While casual gauss rifles and grenade launchers couldn't do the job, railguns were much different.

Unfortunately, all the Queen of Blades did was hold her fists tight, and the wounds healed in a flash of purple.

The Warden ghosts reloaded their railguns and fired again, but this time Kerrigan was prepared. As soon as the rounds exited the railgun barrels, Kerrigan dodged to the side. The three railgun bullets reaped three bloody paths through the zerg behind Kerrigan.

"Damn it." The Queen of Blades swore again. The reaction of the terran units was on point. There was only a one second timing when she was in midair, and it took quite the reflex to use that timing.

She decided to change up her plan a bit. If she couldn't get close enough for melee, she might just use ranged attacks.

A single beam of psionic energy led to a chain reaction that wiped out another thirty Warden units, marines and marauders alike.

Zerg poured in from behind.

The Warden Command Unit made more calculations and came to the conclusion that Warden units alone weren't enough to push back Kerrigan. It came up with another plan and turned to Raynor and the Dominion Colonel.

"Assistance required."

The Dominion colonel nodded. As terrified as he was by Kerrigan's powers, he knew he had no other choice. His duty demanded him to give his life for the cause. "All ghost squadrons, target Kerrigan. Everyone else open fire!"

Dominion units in red armors reinforced Umojan units in white. Their guns were less effective than Warden units, but they were getting things done nonetheless. Their help made up for the openings formed by the Warden units that fell in combat.

Raiders acted as well as they helped the situation with everything they could.

The Terran Dominion. The Umojan Protectorate. Raynor's Raiders. The three factions were pretty much always hostile to each other, but now they were on the same side, fighting the same enemy.

Another one of Kerrigan's blast burnt ten Warden marines, four Dominion marauders, and half a dozen Raiders to crisp.

The Dominion ghosts took action. Dozens of psionically powered bullets smashed into Kerrigan. The Queen of Blades raised her arms and formed a wall, which deflected all the bullets with ease.

Still, that stressed her power.

But the line was already falling. Zerg aggression were getting out of control. A baneling detonated and melted two Dominion marines and wounded one Warden marauder. A hydralisk slashed a Raider marine into two.

"Fall back!"

A Dominion marine saw a roach charging at him. Knowing his rifle would be ineffective against the beast's heavy armor, he tried to retreat, but the marines and marauders behind him cut off any chance he had of maneuvering. Faced with no other choice, the marine opened fire, and got melted by the roach's acidic saliva.

That roach was immediately gunned down by a Warden ghost.

More terran opened fire. At the beginning of the battle, not all six thousand men were fighting. In fact, only the thousand or so on the sides were shooting. The rest were simply waiting and busy getting overwhelmed by fear and anxiety. However, now, with all the losses, all the terran were firing their firearms.

Raynor gunned down another zergling. "Men! Stand your ground!" Screams could be heard all around the battlefield, but Raynor forced those voices out. He couldn't afford to be emotional. Not now.

The terran held their ground. As more zerg poured in, the advantage in firepower the terran once had was gone. Forced into a melee situation, the losses the terran took in just a few minutes was more than the losses they took in the ten or so minutes before Kerrigan's arrival.

It was never a good situation when marines were forced to use the bayonets on their rifles to fight with zerglings and hydralisks.

As usual, Warden units were better in the situation. Their programming included what to do against zerg units in melee, and their reflexes allowed them to fire accurately at close range. Without the influence of fear and pain, these Warden units formed the backbone of the defenses.

Raiders and Dominion troopers were less fortunate. They were practically slaughtered.

No longer facing a sea of guns, Kerrigan had more opportunity. Swiftly, she charged into the middle of a group of Dominion ghosts and severed half of them with her bone spines in half a second. The other half backed off and drew their psionic blades, but their courage only extended their lives for several more seconds. Ordinary ghosts, no matter how brave they were, were no match for the Queen of Blades.

A Warden ghost was melted by half a dozen banelings.

Another Warden ghost fired its railgun at the Queen of Blades. The round smashed into her face, but it merely left a blood groove, which disappeared in just two seconds. Kerrigan pulled the ghost in with her psionic power and obliterated it with her spines. Four pieces of the wreckage hit the floor.

But Kerrigan wasn't satisfied. She glanced at the Keystone container, sensing its increase in energy.

It would be going off soon.

If Kerrigan fled now, she might be able to make it out of the Keystone's blast range in time. Unfortunately, she couldn't. If she abandoned her flagship, it would lead to a chain reaction, and the entirety of her personal fleet would be terminated by the terran fleet with ease. She couldn't allow that. Even if she was willing to abandon her forces, she had no idea if she could get away from this trap in one piece without the backing off her fleet. The terran battlecruisers wouldn't hesitate to gun her transport out of the sky.

Kerrigan decided to make a go for it as she charged head on toward the direction of the Keystone.

Twenty terran units blocked her path. Twenty terran units were killed or destroyed.

Forty made an attempt. Forty perished.

A Warden Command Unit gave the order, and twenty Warden marines smashed into Kerrigan. The Queen of Blades' spines started cutting, and unit after unit fell, but as soon as they were struck, the Warden units exploded. The blast caused by the self destruction of their reactors was more than enough to push Kerrigan away from the Keystone.

But that wasn't enough. In just seconds, Kerrigan was on top of the artifact.

And then the artifact exploded.

A look of shock appeared on her face. She could sense that the artifact was still a distance away from being fully charged. What happened?

Before the battle commenced, Raynor received report from Swann and Stettman that while the Keystone needed a while to be fully charged, it was capable of sending a smaller blast out on command. Raynor had the control of the smaller blast installed into the computer of his armor, and when he saw the need to use it, he did exactly that.

It proved to be a wise decision.

Before Kerrigan could say or do anything, the energy blast swept through her, as well as every zerg and terran in a large radius. The terran were untouched, but every zerg in the radius was set aflame. In just seconds, all of these zerg were reduced to ashes. Ultralisks and zerglings alike died.

Kerrigan screamed in agony, but she was too strong to be killed instantly. Instead, she was merely wounded. The blast wiped out most of her energy and sent her to the ground.

"Take her out! For the Dominion!" The Dominion colonel suddenly sensed a great opportunity. The Queen of Blades just took the full power of the blast, and she was at her weakest point. With a single order, the colonel, along with five ghosts and twenty marines, converged onto Kerrigan with their guns blasting.

One moment they were charging. The next moment a shade of purple swept over them and ripped them into pieces.

A lion, no matter how wounded, was strong enough to kill a horde of sheep.

After slaughtering the terran with her spine wings and psionic energy, Kerrigan knew she needed to back off now. The terran units of all three factions were pushing back the zerg reinforcement, and already Warden units were converging. Kerrigan wasn't afraid of ordinary biological terran soldiers. Everything about them was vulnerable. Their emotions. Their slow reflexes. But the Warden units were different. They fought with nothing but logic. Even if they were facing certain death, they would rather self destruct than scream and falter.

While the Dominion soldiers and the Raiders were still trying to come to grasp of what happened, the Queen of Blades was already backing off. As she retreated, Dominion soldiers and Raiders subconsciously got out of the way. Their logic told them to go forward and give their lives for humanity, but their bodies simply refused. Not everyone had the courage to charge into certain death, no matter how trained or faithful they were. Plus, death was bad, but dying without getting anything done was even worse.

Only Warden units resisted, but Kerrigan was too fast, and all the Warden did was drop two dozen more bodies.

The zerg were temporarily beaten back, but the terran were pretty much gone.

Raynor counted the amount of terran forces left. Half of the Dominion units were dead, and so was their commander. The Raiders lost over one hundred men, two thirds of them mercenaries. The Warden units were stronger, but they handled most of the fighting as well. Out of the forty eight hundred units, two thousand of them have fallen.

Six thousand terran units entered the battlefield. At least half of them won't be leaving.

Raynor opened his mouth, wanting to say some words of encouragement, but nothing came out.

"Hold your ground." He finally ordered. "Not one step back."

Warden units were repositioned and formed another line of defense. Dominion soldiers and Raiders looked at each other in desperation, but finally they reloaded their weapons and lined up behind the Warden units.

There was no turning back now.

It was victory or death...or maybe even both.


	98. Chapter 98

While the terran strike team was dying inside Kerrigan's flagship, the fight on the outside was no nicer. If anything, it was even worse. In space, in most cases, if a ship fell, then everyone on board would be killed. Mostly, crew members didn't have time to get to escape pods before their ships fall apart. Even if they did, there was no promising the pods could survive in the hellish environment. A single glaive worm could end the lives of dozens.

Jean sat in the bridge, giving orders to her underlings. Admiral Thorn has already told everyone to obey Jean's orders. Some officers and crew members had doubts of why someone as young and seemingly inexperienced as Jean was in command of something so serious, but those doubts died down when they realized how effective Jean was.

All across the field the leviathans were beaten back. All of the zerg light flyers were terminated, and the terran light fighters were circling around the leviathans, doing their best to do some damage but failing to do much.

Suddenly, Jean received a report from the Warden command unit on the leviathan that told her the Keystone was going to be fully charged soon. In other words, unless Kerrigan chose to flee, she would only have the opportunity to launch a final assault.

Jean didn't think Kerrigan would flee, but even if Kerrigan did, she would never make it. Jean has already deployed squads and squads of fighters around Kerrigan's flagship. As mighty as she was, Kerrigan couldn't effectively move in space without a transport. Transports, usually overlords, would be defenseless against Jean's fighters. Hell they would likely be gunned down before they could even get out of the leviathans. If she did, she would die even quicker than if she stayed.

If Kerrigan stood and fought, then she would combine all her available forces and send them into a final round of attack. All the terran needed was to hold their ground, and when the Keystone was activated, it would wipe out every zerg in its blast radius.

"Get me two squads of vikings." She suddenly ordered.

Inside the ships, the Warden Command Unit walked to Raynor.

"Zerg units assembling on all directions. Attack imminent."

Raynor rose his eyebrows. His past experience with Raider Warden units gave him some knowledge in communicating with these Umojan ones.

"Can we hold?"

"Unlikely, but we will be reinforced."

"How?"

"We will receive air support."

"Air support?" Raynor was about to say something when zerg screeches came from the other end of the halls. He could feel the vibration caused by countless zerg units running through the ship. "To arms!" He yelled. "We must hold this!"

"All units, form formation! Terminate all zerg units!" The Warden Command Unit's order was much more concise. Immediately, Warden units formed several lines, ready as always.

Once again, countless zerg poured down the halls. Twenty ultralisks formed the first line. They stomped on the mountain of zerg corpses, crushing them and clearing a path for the other zerg behind them.

But these ultralisks weren't the first zerg units.

A brutalisk was the first.

Several Warden ghosts fired their railguns, but they were completely ineffective. Perhaps railguns could kill ultralisks, but the brutalisk was a whole different story. Everything the terran had, whether they were railguns, grenades, or gauss bullets, simply bounced off. A few Dominion ghosts that survived the onslaught made a few attempts with their snipes, but those failed as well.

A Warden ghost leaped onto the brutalisk's head with its jetpack and ignited its plasma blade. It slashed down on the beast's skull, but all the blade did was leave a slight scorch mark. To any zerg, much less a brutalisk, it was nothing.

The brutalisk slammed its head against the ceiling of the leviathan's hall and crushed the Warden unit.

Units from all three factions fired, but none of the factions was able to do anything. The brutalisk and the ultralisks simply stepped forward, crushing everything in its way. Some Warden units tried suicide bombing, but even the reactors going off merely pushed the zerg assault beasts back a bit.

Even worse, smaller zerg units flooded in from behind the ultralisks.

Terran were slaughtered. A road of blood was paved beneath the feet of the ultralisks. Raynor did his best to form a line of defense, but every time he gathered several dozen men, the group was immediately overwhelmed.

Suddenly, just when the terran line was about to completely crumble, a series of explosions went off, and the next thing Raider saw was a giant hole appearing under the ground of where the ultralisks were.

The brutalisk and all of the ultralisks fell out of the hole and into space.

There was a reason Jean didn't order the bomb strike as soon as the ultralisks appeared. She knew she didn't have time to deploy reinforcement and other heavy weapons onto the leviathan, which meant she needed to take down as many ultralisk and brutalisk as possible.

That was why she waited so long. The entire time, she was waiting for her Warden AIs to construct a structural map of the leviathan and determine where the explosions needed to go off so all the ultralisks would be brought out of the equation.

And that was exactly what happened.

Both the brutalisk and the ultralisks were pretty much dead. In the leviathan, they were invincible, but in space...Jean saw the brutalisk that caused the terran strike team so much pain and suffering getting cornered by two squads of vikings. Three rounds of torpedoes reduced the brutalisk into dozens of pieces of flesh and bones.

The zerg continued pushing, and at certain points, even the Queen of Blades herself, not fully recovered, went into the battle. She was greeted by railgun round after railgun round.

The cold calculating Warden units were the first to be completely obliterated. They stuck to the mission, and they paid the price. Despite being the second line of defense and being behind the Warden units, the Dominion and the Raiders fell one by one. Even Raynor received a spine to his arm. The pain bent his legs and sent him onto his knees.

Once again, the Swarm pushed forward. Kerrigan took another railgun to the face before snapping the neck of the last Warden ghost.

The Warden Command Unit was beheaded by a hydralisk.

A zergling leaped onto Raynor and raised its claws.

And then the Keystone went off.

"No!" Kerrigan screamed as a much more powerful shockwave hit her. Instead of merely knocking her out, the blast burned through every single one of her cell. The shockwave carefully separated the zerg parts of the cells apart from the terran ones and ripped them out of the Queen of Blades, just leaving her human side intact.

Spine wings disappeared. Kerrigan's snakelike hair was returned to her normal, human hair. It was still long and spiky, but it was human. Her claws were returned to fingers. The carapace all over her body disappeared, replaced by bare skin.

Her psionic powers dwindled. Her transformation from a terran ghost to the Queen of Blades amplified her power, and the return to humanity cut her power by nearly half.

The zerg horde behind her were hit as well. They weren't as lucky as Kerrigan. The shockwave took out everything that was zerg, and for the common zerg cannon fodder, that meant the shockwave reduced everything in their cells to ashes.

Every zerg unit inside the blast radius was scorched.

The shockwave continued through the entire leviathan before disappearing. Even the tiniest zerg organism on the ship was gone.

With a loud screech, the leviathan itself started dying. As surprising as it was, the leviathan itself was a giant zerg creature, and it was dying.

Raynor felt the ground shake, but instead of lying down on the ground like every other Raider and Dominion soldier and pray god for surviving through this, Raynor pushed the glowing zerg corpse aside, struggled up, and walked to Kerrigan, who was knocked out. Ignoring the wound on his arm, he covered the naked Kerrigan with his own body.

The leviathan gave out one last scream before dying. Unlike the basic zerg units, the leviathan's death didn't make the entire unit crumble to ashes. Instead, the leviathan's corpse remained intact. This saved the lives of both Raynor and Kerrigan and basically saved the fate of the entire sector. If Raynor and Kerrigan fell here, then Amon would move into the sector practically unopposed.

As the situation became clear, Raynor looked down on Kerrigan with a slight sense of disbelief. Even now, he couldn't believe he did it.

He saved Kerrigan.

Not only so, Sarah Kerrigan was human again.

Suddenly, he heard someone approaching from behind. He turned around and saw it was a Dominion officer.

"Commander Raynor," The officer started, and immediately Raynor didn't like what was happening. He silently rested his hand on his sidearm.

"What is it?" He demanded quietly.

"Please hand the Queen of Blades over, commander. She has slaughtered billions of us. She has to be punished." The officer said quietly.

"And then what?" Raynor unbuckled his holster.

"She will face trial at the Dominion capital world of Korhal, where she will be sentenced to death."

The Dominion officer waved his hand, and the Dominion soldiers that survived stood up and raised their weapons. The rest of the Raiders loaded their weapons as well and took aim at the Dominion soldiers. Some loyal men placed themselves between the Dominion soldiers and Raynor.

It was amazing how quickly situations change in battle. Former allies became practical enemies almost immediately.

"Stay back, son." Raynor took a deep breathe. He didn't want brave terran soldiers to survive the zerg, only to perish at the hands of their own, which was why he pleaded. "You don't want to do this."

The officer hesitated slightly. A part of him didn't want to do this, but he also knew Emperor Mengsk won't be happy if he had a chance to eliminate both Raynor and Kerrigan and he didn't take the shot. General Warfield could disobey Mengsk's will and make an alliance with Raynor and the Umojans, but as a low level officer, he couldn't do the same thing.

He drew his weapon and pointed at the Raider in front of Raynor. A scan of the surrounding told him there were still a hundred or so Dominion soldiers and only around eighty Raiders. There were still a hundred or so Warden units, but they have lost all the Warden Command Units, and while their simple AIs were capable of basic logic, they still identified the Dominion soldiers as friendlies. If these Warden units were attacked, their programming would allow them to passively fight back, but without a direct command they wouldn't actively intervene into the conflict between the Raiders and the Dominion troopers.

"Move, or die." The Dominion officer finally demanded. It was the last straw.

Raynor sighed again and looked down on Kerrigan's face. Under the dim light of his CMC armor, Raynor could see Kerrigan's carefully crafted facial features.

"In that case, I'm sorry."

He turned around with a pistol in his hand.

A series of gunshots rang out for several minutes before ending abruptly. Ten minutes later, a dozen Raider dropships approached the leviathan's opening.

As Kerrigan's flagship fell, the rest of the Swarm started falling apart as well. Boarding parties on the Gorgons were gunned down inside the vessel halls. Leviathan tentacles were ripped apart by laser batteries and torpedoes.

When all the other forces were gone, the leviathans became the final target. Squads and squads of fighters, covered by the gunfire of capital ships, bombarded every inch of carapace of the leviathans. Orbital defenses like spore cannons and spore crawlers were melted. Even the zerg cities couldn't survive this amount of fire.

When three broods, twelve leviathans in total, jumped in to reinforce, the last leviathan was already reduced to eighteen pieces.

Faced with the full might of hundreds of battlecruisers, the broods had no choice but to warp away. Dominion and Umojan fighters alike attempted a pursuit, but the leviathans were swift in their retreat.

Inside the Umojan flagship, the crew members and officers were overwhelmed by excitement. After all, they just survived a battle against one of the top menaces in the sector.

But Jean wasn't excited.

"All ships prepare for combat." She silently ordered.

The crew members exchanged confused looks, but orders were orders. They did their best to suppress their excitement and passed down the order. Before long, the Umojan Fleet was ready for battle once again.

Only this time it wasn't against the zerg.

With the foreign threat gone, it was time to do some good old backstabbing.


	99. Chapter 99

General Warfield stood in the bridge. He was dead silent.

A figure stood in front of him. Her armor radiated purple energy. A pair of tactical goggles covered her eyes. A modified C-10 canister rifle was in her grip.

"General Warfield, Emperor Mengsk's orders are clear. It is your duty as a soldier to obey them."

Warfield sighed. "The Umojans and the Raiders just helped us take down the Queen of Blades. If we strike them now..."

"Raynor's Raiders are a group of rebels and traitors, and the Umojans are separatists who only want to backstab the Dominion in the back while we are fighting the zerg. It is your duty to strike them down." The figure pressed on. "General, it's an order."

"Disobeying an order from the emperor is treason."

Out of the instinct as a soldier, Warfield looked around. The bridge was filled, but not in a good way. The officers, crew members, and security guards loyal to him were forced to leave. Some of them wanted to stay, but Warfield ordered them to depart. He didn't want these good men to spill their blood at the hands of their own comrades and still be labeled as traitors after that. He knew that was what would happen if he tried to resist.

These soldiers were replaced by soldiers of the Dominion Special Forces. Warfield knew how blindly loyal these Special Forces soldiers were toward Emperor Mengsk, and if Warfield still refused to follow the order, they wouldn't hesitate to take him down.

Finally, he gave in.

"Fine. Can you clear the bridge now? I need my men to command the battle."

The figure nodded. "Also, Emperor Mengsk wants Crown Prince Valerian brought back to him. See that it's done."

"Prince Valerian is on his own ship, the Bucephalus. He has his own personnel and security forces loyal to him and him alone. I have no control over that ship."

The battlecruiser Bucephalus used to be Arcturus Mengsk's flagship, and the emperor wasn't the type of person who would give his son his flagship and trust him with it to do whatever he wanted. Valerian took the ship by force, and he did so with the backing of an army loyal to him alone. Gotta say, the prince had some tricks up his sleeves. Not everyone was willing to go against the emperor for the prince.

Valerian knew his father's power and he knew something like this might happen, so he stayed on his own ship. It proved to be a wise decision.

The figure frowned. She paused for a second before continuing. "In that case, send a boarding party, but focus your forces on the Umojans and the Raiders." She turned and left the bridge. Most of the Special Forces soldiers left, but two marines stayed behind. Warfield knew they were here to keep an eye on him. If he did anything wrong, these marines would no doubt shoot him.

Sighing again, he turned to the crew members who re-entered the bridge.

"Men, prepare for combat."

* * *

"Sir, the Dominion Fleet is entering assault formation."

Jean glanced at the Dominion Fleet through the window before turning to her men. "Where are the Raiders now?"

"Our fighters saw twelve Raider dropships retrieving the Raider boarding party and returning to the Hyperion."

Jean nodded. Her own Umojan transports have retrieved the rest of the Warden boarding party as well, and she saw from the AIs' memories that Raynor has managed to save Kerrigan. It was only logical to think he brought Kerrigan as well as the Keystone back into the Hyperion. Jean didn't expect the Dominion officer to turn on the Raiders, but she wasn't surprised to see Raynor ordering the slaughtering of all the Dominion soldiers. A man powered by love was dangerous.

At this point, her plan was to keep Kerrigan alive and keep the Keystone from falling into Narud's hand, preventing him from gaining the energy needed to revive Amon. At this moment, the Raiders had both the Keystone and Kerrigan.

She just needed to secure both.

But the Dominion Fleet seemed to have something else in mind.

"All units prepare for battle. Tell the captains to keep an eye on the Dominion. If they make a move, don't hesitate to retaliate." Jean ordered. "Get me Ray…"

Suddenly, a series of explosions rang out from the back of her ship. Every crew member shook and some fell. Jean grabbed onto a table and held herself still.

"Report." Her ice cold voice brought some calmness into the frightened hearts of the crew members.

"Sir, our primary warp drive has been taken out! It seems to be missiles!"

As someone who took out enemy warp drives for fun, Jean did everything she could to keep her own ship's warp drive safe. A mini-defensive matrix was installed around the warp drive, adding to the protection of layers of armor. She positioned advanced scanners around her entire flagship just to make sure no cloaked enemy flyer could sneak up on her.

And still, this happened.

"Where did the attacks come from?"

"The attackers are cloaked." An officer glanced at the scanners. "But our detectors have picked up nothing. They must have some new toys. Sir, we still have our secondary warp drive..."

Another wave of missiles took that out as well.

Jean tapped her earpiece. "Warden Command Unit C0021 take command!"

Under the confused eyes of the officers and crew members, they suddenly lost control of the ship. A mechanical AI took over.

In the background, the AI calculated the projectile of the missiles, which have come into sight after being shot out, and reverse traced where the fighters should be. The AI didn't know where exactly the fighters were, but that didn't stop it from turning its laser batteries on the entire area where the enemy ships might be hiding.

In just seconds, six ships exploded into flames. It was already exhausting for them to power advanced cloaking fields and carry modified missiles on the energy source of a single light fighter. Defensive matrixes were simply too luxurious for them.

The enemy fighters were down, but Jean knew they were just the beginning.

"Sir, the Dominion Fleet is approaching!"

As the Warden Command Unit returned the control of the ship to the Umojan crew members, an officer suddenly noticed what was going on a distance away.

Jean's eyes twitched. Fight or flight?

The choice was already made for her.

The Hyperion jumped away almost instantly.

"Launch all nukes. All ships prepare for jump back to Umoja."

Jean knew, in space, the nuclear missiles couldn't do much against the Dominion Fleet. They were merely a distraction to keep the Dominion ships occupied for the moment. Their sole duty was to buy time for the Umojans to leave.

Jean could try to make a stand, but what's the point? The Dominion wasn't a servant of Amon, at least not completely, and taking them down wouldn't help with Jean's mission. She would merely be losing her Umojan ships pointlessly.

"But sir, both of our warp drives are down!"

Jean shook her head, didn't really bothering to waste time explaining. Instead, she walked to the control panel and pressed a few buttons.

Jean was cautious. Really cautious. Even with two warp drives and countless defense, she installed a hidden warp drive on the ship. It was carefully covered just for situations like this.

The Umojan Fleet obeyed, and hundreds of ships entered warp space. Dominion battlecruisers launched fighters, but the priority of both the fighters and the battlecruisers was the nukes. Hundreds of nukes allowed to explode in the middle of the Dominion could still result in a disaster. This made them too occupied to cut off the path of retreat for the Umojans.

However, just before Jean's flagship was about to leave, a modified Corvette exited warp space just in the rear of the ship. Its tip slammed into the ship's rear armor, piercing it.

Dominion troopers poured out.

"Security forces, repel the enemy." Jean ordered, and squads and squads of Umojan soldiers were directed toward the opening. As they moved, Jean returned to the Command Unit C0021.

"Continue with the warping process."

"Foreign object in contact with the hull. Consequence unpredictable. Action is unadvised."

"Continue with warping process." Jean had to admit the Dominion struck at the perfect timing. A few seconds earlier and their transport would be ripped by Umojan battlecruisers. A few seconds later and Jean's ship would already be gone. At the moment, all the other Umojan ships were in warp space, and they couldn't help her in quite a while. She needed to get out now. If she was forced to stay back, she could never outrun the Dominion Fleet.

"Affirmative."

Jean's ship blinked several times before disappearing into warp space with the corvette attached to it.

* * *

With the threat of the Dominion fleet gone for the moment, Jean turned her attention to the Dominion boarding parties.

"Soldier, report."

"Sir, they're Dominion Special Forces! We are being overun...eh! Where did that come from? Ah!"

The radio went quiet.

Jean touched her earpiece.

"Mobilize all Warden unit aboard the ship and terminate the intruders. How long until the warp drive is back online?"

"Around one hour."

"Then we will hold for one hour." Jean glanced at a security camera, which showed Dominion forces advancing down the halls of the ship toward the bridge. Umojan forces did their best to stop the invaders, but they were no match for the best of the Terran Dominion.

Something told her this was going to be a tough one.

At a position next to the first point of impact, the spectre that confronted Warfield was leading the charge.

A squad of Umojan marines leaped forward with their guns blazing. The spectre raised her left arm, and all the bullets were stopped with an invisible shield. With short and precise shots, she executed three marines in just two seconds.

The Umojan captain and three other marines that survived knelt down, covered their bodies with their combat shields as best as they could, and fired blindly into the general direction of the enemy.

The figure smirked and jumped forward. Several gauss bullets that went toward her direction were deflected. In just three seconds, the spectre was on top of the four Umojan soldiers. A purple psionic blade replaced her gauss rifle.

The first Umojan marine, along with her shield, was cut in half by a single slash of the blade.

The second marine screamed and swung his combat shield at the spectre. The spectre stopped the full might of the CMC armor and the weight of the combat shield with a single arm and stuck the psionic blade through the man's helmet with the other arm.

The captain, a short distance away, pulled out a grenade from his side and pulled off the pin. He was about to toss it out when the spectre lashed out with her psionic energy and held him, along with the grenade, in place.

The fourth marine fired blindly, and was shot in the head by a Special Forces marine.

Under the horrified eyes of the captain, the grenade went off in his grip, reducing him and his armor into several pieces.

"Sir, we have lost contact with the Dominion Fleet at Char. It seems like the Umojan ship warped away." A Special Forces marine reported. Even someone as highly trained and skilled as he was a bit frightened. Normally, on a boarding mission, being trapped without reinforcement meant death. The enemy could easily overwhelm their trapped enemies with sheer number. It might take a while, but it could only end in one way.

"Doesn't matter." The spectre let go of what was left of the Umojan captain, which she was still holding still in mid-air. As her reinforcements gunned down encroaching Umojan forces, she turned on her comm to all the soldiers in the boarding party.

"All units, this is Viper."

"Push forward toward the bridge. Kill anyone in your way."

"Whoever the commander of this fleet is, we will kill her."


	100. Chapter 100

A final Umojan marine lost his head at the hands of a purple psionic blade.

Viper kicked the headless body and knocked it over. As the piece of dead flesh hit the ground, she found herself facing a wall of steel.

A squad of Warden units have arrived.

"Forward. Terminate all hostile terran units."

The sound of mechanical Warden Command Units brought some old memory back to the female spectre, but she immediately overcame her emotions. She told herself that these units weren't the ones her loved one made. Instead, they came from people who plagiarized the work of her love.

Warden marines started shooting. Viper tossed an EMP grenade into the middle of the mechanical marines as she covered herself with a psionic shield and got behind a wave of Special Forces marines and marauders that came to reinforce. Bullets hit either the psionic shield or the combat shield and did nothing.

The EMP went off. Within the tight halls of the ship, it was extremely successful. Half the Warden flank collapsed. They were modified to handle normal EMP shockwaves, but against the Special Forces gadget, they were disabled nonetheless.

Now the Special Forces and the Warden units were in equal numbers. As powerful as the machines were, the Special Forces were the best in the Dominion while the Wardens were modified from normal marine and marauder gadgets. Even without the intervention of Viper and two other Specs Ops ghosts, the result was clear.

Under the command of a Command Unit, the Warden units held the ground until the end. Their sacrifice decreased the unit count of the Dominion boarding party by another half a dozen.

"Push forward!" Viper ordered, and the experienced Dominion soldiers walked past both their fallen comrades and the destroyed Warden units and continued to advance toward the bridge.

Jean saw it in the cameras of the Warden units.

"Seal off all blast doors between the Dominion soldiers and here. All Warden units converge on the bridge." Jean realized the Dominion soldiers were heading straight here. It was reasonable. There were thousands of Umojans on this ship, plus a couple more thousand Warden units. Several hundred Special Forces couldn't kill them all. The Dominion spectre wanted to take down the bridge. As soon as that was done, she could jump the ship back to Dominion territory and the Umojans in the rest of the ship could be easily dealt with.

Smart plan.

Jean didn't recognize Viper. For one thing, she has pretty much forgotten about the ghost. When she first left Viper, the female ghost was powerful, but not that powerful. Several dozen legionnaires could easily kill her. When Jean was by herself and had nothing but a couple hundred warbots in her watch, she needed Viper's help. Now, with entire fleets at her command, she no longer found Viper as worthy of her attention, so she simply forgot about the former ghost now spectre.

Viper went through great length to avenge Jean, but the cold fact what that Jean practically forgot about Viper. She still knew Viper, but she never made any intention to track Viper down. The amount of value the ghost could provide wasn't worth the risk of being noticed by the Dominion and constantly having attack groups and assassins sent after her.

Also, after becoming a spectre, Viper's psionic energy turned purple. Her suit also changed. Overall, her general appearance was completely different.

 _"Pzzzzz"_

Viper slammed her psionic blade into a sealed blast door. The entire blade went through, and Viper turned the weapon. In just seconds, she has already formed a circle. Pulling the blade out, she tapped the meters thick of blast door, which fell over and hit the ground, making a loud bang.

A Special Forces marine wanted to move across, but Viper stopped him. She closed her eyes for two seconds before suddenly raising her hand. Immediately, two Umojan marines who hid in the corners of the other side of the door were lifted into the air.

Viper closed his fists, and the two marines were literally crushed.

"I can sense an entire army on the other end. They're also mechanical units. Warden units." She whispered. Her psionic energy screamed danger, but she put it down. Instead of immediately making a move, she took out a syringe of terrazine and jammed the needle into her neck.

As the spectre pushed the gas into her body, the fellow Dominion Special soldiers checked their weapons one last time. Most of them have worked with ghosts, even Spec Ops ghosts, but they have never seen someone as powerful as Viper. Compared to Viper, who could duel with the Queen of Blades with several rounds, the Spec Ops ghosts looked like fools.

If even Viper said the situation in front was dire, then the chance for these Spec Ops soldiers was even dimmer.

Viper inhaled deeply. A cloud of purple remained in her eyes for several seconds before disappearing. "Let's go."

She charged forward with all the fury in the world.

The rest of the soldiers followed. They had no choice. Win, and they might live long enough to return to the Dominion. Hesitate, and they would't stand a chance.

"Terminate." A Warden Command Unit stated concisely.

The small bridge obviously couldn't hold thousands of Warden units. In fact, it could barely hold fifty. The rest were piled in the halls between Viper and the bridge.

Dozens of gauss rifles took aim at Viper and started spitting bullets. The ghost formed a shield in front of her. The terrazine she just took gave her an extra boost. The shield was more than enough to take the bullets for two full seconds.

Two seconds was all Viper needed.

The marines kept on firing, but Viper slashed her weapon around, and Warden units fell one by one.

A marauder fired a pair of grenades in close range, but Viper, with the help of psionic energy, darted to the side with menacing speed. The grenades flew by Viper and landed on top of the combat shield of a Special Forces marine. The blast destroyed the combat shield and maimed the marine. In this situation, maimed was equal to death.

Viper separated the Warden marauder's arm from its body before beheading it with a second strike.

Half a dozen more Warden marines were knocked off their feet by a purple shockwave. Before they could stand up, Viper was already on top of them. She stepped on the reactor of a Warden marine and crushed it. Several other marines initiated the self destruction sequence, but as soon as that happened, Viper smirked and pushed those marines into the crowd of Warden units that were still firing.

"Cancel self destruction seq…"

These marines exploded before the order could be completed, taking down dozens of Warden marines and marauders with them.

The rest of the Warden units kept on charging, but the advantage that has once helped them in countless occasions have been turned to a disadvantage. In the tight tunnel, dozens of Warden marines could fire at once, but there were thousands of Wardens in the hallway. The Special Forces, on the other hand, lacked in numbers, which meant all of them could fire at once.

The rest of the Wardens continued attacking. This was the advantage of machines. They could never be wavered by the tough situation.

The Special Forces continued to advance, but their losses grew by the seconds. Even those that survived were facing constant fire. Armors and combat shields were ripped apart. Marine after marine fell. Marauders were weakened. Even one of the Spec Ops ghosts took some wounds. Under this dense of firepower, cloaking didn't matter, and common Spec Ops ghosts weren't strong enough to constantly maintain a psionic shield.

Eventually, one of the gauss bullets found its way through the eye and into the brain of the wounded Spec Ops ghost. Viper finally realized this couldn't go on. If all of her forces fell, then there was no way she could slaughter all the thousands of Warden enemies just by herself.

She growled, and purple psionic energy radiated out of her body. All the Warden units in front of her were lifted into the air. The armors themselves were crushed. The AIs inside did their best to calculated a way to counter this situation, but their archive simply didn't contain a counter.

Viper closed her fist slowly.

All the Warden units in the air folded on themselves. Helmets and leg armors became one. Before long, all the units were reduced into balls of metal.

Viper flexed her arm. All the hundreds of balls of metal were flung at the other side of the hallway, where reinforcing Warden units were. All the metal not just knocked the Warden units over but also formed a small hill, temporarily blocking the path of both the Warden units and the Dominion units.

She turned back to the rest of the boarding squad.

"Hold this position." Viper ordered as her eyes returned to normal.

"What will you do, sir?" The ghost that survived asked. While he and the other men were explicitly ordered to follow Viper's orders, Viper was given command to this squad just before this mission. The trust between her and the team wasn't enough to make the team follow her orders in a situation like this without a single word of question.

"Hold your position. That's an order." Viper repeated before enabling her modified cloaking field. With several steps, she leaped onto the mountain of scrap metal.

In front of the mountain stood lines and lines of Warden units. But instead of moving forward, they remained at their position and kept their guards up. Their mission was to defend, and attacking would be pointless and risky.

Viper was cloaked. Previously, she didn't cloak because it wouldn't matter. The Warden marines would be firing at the Dominion boarding party anyways and cloaking didn't mean bullets would fly through her. This times, things changed. Without an immediate threat at hand, the Warden marines merely remained at alert position. Even the Warden Command Units' detection devices weren't able to detect her.

The female ghost couldn't even find a place to set her feet, but she didn't let that stop her. She jumped, but instead of landing on the floor, she grabbed onto a side wall. Her hostile environment suit was equipped with gadgets that increased the friction between the gloves and the wall, allowing her to virtually climb on the walls and around the Warden units. All the while, she was invisible.

Without a fight, she moved by hundreds and hundreds of Warden units without having to shoot a single bullet.

The common Warden units, even the Warden Command Units, didn't think anything about it. They were given an order, and that order was to defend.

Jean thought differently.

"All Warden units, advance." She demanded quickly. She didn't know why the Dominion soldiers held their ground, and she couldn't see anything because they took out all the security cameras, but she knew she must deny whatever the enemy wanted to accomplish.

Warden units started marching over the mountain. Dominion soldiers held their ground and fired back. Those who still had their shields intact used their shields while the others did their best to find cover. All of them fired back, hoping to take down as much enemy and hold their ground as long as possible.

But they were fighting an endless wave of foe. The first line of Wardens fell, only to get replaced by a second line. Losses were taken on both sides, but the Warden were endless while the Dominion were falling one by one.

Eventually, all the Dominion soldiers were terminated.

But Jean has already sensed something was very wrong.

"Seal all blast doors! Warden units block all entrances! Leave no gap open! Bring every detector we have online!" She pointed at the blast door that sealed off the bridge from the rest of the ship. If the enemy spectre wanted to get to her, she needed to get past that opening. "Everyone, aim your weapons at that door. If that doors is cut open, open fire whether you see an enemy or not."

Even as the last Dominion soldier fell, the spectre that once took down nearly a hundred Wardens with a single move didn't strike again. Not even once. Where did she go? Well, she was a spectre, and everyone knew spectres loved their cloaking fields.

She didn't think the spectre could find her way into the bridge, but she wasn't taking any chances.

Unfortunately, it was too late.


	101. Chapter 101

A deadly wave of purple psionic energy blasted the door open. A piece of what was left of the door was flung into the bridge, knocking over and crushing two Warden marines and a crew member. Blood flowed out from under that piece of metal.

That was just the beginning. Viper charged into the room. Crew members, officers, and Umojan security forces were taken by surprise, but Warden marines and marauders immediately recognized the threat and opened fire.

That had two seconds of free reign before another shockwave crushed every single one of them. Just before she came in, Viper took another syringe of terrazine, and it maintained her power at a formidable level.

Jean was tossed back as well. Unlike the other Umojan soldiers, she was able to take out half a dozen warbots and place them in front of her to tank some of the damage. Unfortunately, the rest of the energy still tossed her back. She slammed into a control panel. Luckily she didn't accidentally smash on some button with rogue intentions.

But Jean's luck ran out as Viper walked to her. Without even wasting time getting back up, she started unloading units from her watch, but by the time she took twenty Warden marines out, Viper was already in front of her.

A single slash from her dissimated all twenty marines.

Jean waved her hand, and a railgun appeared in her hands. She took aim at Viper and fired a single shot. The recoil almost ripped her arm open. It obviously caught the female spectre by surprise, but the terrazine Viper took made her not just fearless but also quicker. She formed a psionic shield in front of her in half a second. The shield shattered in just one point two five seconds, but that already bought Viper enough time to dodge to the side.

Jean never had the chance to fire another shot as Viper's psionic blade went straight through her chest.

Jean coughed. A distance away, thousands of Warden units were on the way back, but they would never get here in time. Viper, still holding the psionic blade, turned around and sent a psionic blast that sent the first line of Warden units back.

Blood dripped out of Jean's mouth. Her left hand slid off her watch. She ignored the pain in her body and tried to move, but she was losing control.

She was dying.

Jean really did all she could. Her plan was carefully crafted. If the Dominion Special Forces ship didn't suddenly jump in and stab her flagship in the back, the entire Umojan Fleet, including her flagship, should be back to Umoja already. Sarah Kerrigan would be purified and out of control of Amon, which meant Jean would've accomplished her objective with minimal losses. The Dominion Fleet couldn't afford to launch a full scale attack. She could feel free to expand her forces while working with the Raiders and Kerrigan to gain control of both the Terran Dominion and the Zerg Swarm.

Everything would be perfect.

But there were no ifs.

Perhaps thanks to Dominion advanced ravens, the Dominion Special Forces Corvette noticed the weakest point in Jean's plan and jumped in at her most vulnerable point. As a result, the boarding party had a chance to shine.

Jean was prepared for that, but she wasn't prepared for someone who could exchange punches with Sarah Kerrigan to go against her. If she knew that was the case, she would've ordered the laser batteries to blast the Corvette into ashes. Sure, it would result in a breach in the hull of the ship that might disturb the jumping process, but she was willing to take the chances.

But there were no ifs.

And now Jean was looking down on a purple psionic blade in her heart.

All strength faded away. Despite her gifts, Jean's body was completely human. Stab her through the chest and she would die.

Viper smirked and pulled the blade out. She watched as the Umojan commander's body hit the floor. She has seen this sight countless times, and she showed neither satisfaction nor appreciation.

That was until something on Jean's face fell off.

Jean used a zerg organism to alter her look. That organism was a parasite, and when Jean lost her life, so did the parasite.

And Viper found herself staring at the corpse of the love of her life.

"What the...that's impossible!" Her mouth hung wide open. For a second she couldn't believe what just happened. Her girlfriend, the one who she thought was dead months ago, was alive!

And she just killed her.

"No…"

She whispered and knelt down beside Jean. Her knees hit the metal floor. Her psionic blade smashed into the ground. Almost desperately, she checked for a pulse, a breathe, and basically anything that told her Jean was still alive.

She found nothing. Everything, from her psionic energy to her eyes, told her Jean was gone.

Behind her, Warden units continued to move, but Viper no longer cared about them.

In fact, she no longer cared about anything.

The spectre picked up her psionic blade and placed it next to her neck.

Viper felt like there was nothing to live for. She felt like that back in that bar on Deadman's Port, but she found her purpose after meeting Jean. When Jean died, Viper made it her duty to avenge her death, and she was willing to go through hell to get it done.

She went through the excruciating process to become a spectre. She persisted through the hallucination and the agony of the terrazine with the thought of Jean in mind. She put her life on the line by making a daring, even suicidal, move against Raynor during the fight between Moebius and the Swarm. Hell she even joined Moebius and hunted down enemies of the Dominion and the Moebius simply because she wanted to gain more trust from Mengsk and Narud. This would give her an opportunity to struck the so called emperor down.

Sure, she would probably die after the assassination, but so what? What's the point of life anyways?

But fate has made a fool out of her. Fate gave her hope and then took it away. Jean was really dead this time, and worse, Viper killed her.

Just as Viper was about to ignite the weapon and join Jean in whatever heaven or hell that exists in this world, five yellow protoss capital ships warped in. Viper saw those movements through a window of the bridge.

She let go of the blade for a second.

Twelve warp prisms darted toward the Umojan flagship. Their gravitic drives allowed them to outrun a mutalisk. Within half a minute, they reached the ship and entered warp mode, generating a dozen power fields all over the ship.

They were escorted by three dozen yellow protoss fighters. Two dozen of them were mirages and the rest were scouts. When they reached the ship, scouts circled around the ship and surrounded the Special Forces Corvette.

They blasted it out of the sky in two rounds of anti-matter missiles.

Mirages remained around the warp prisms.

Thousands of energy beams dropped down from the sky and formed thousands of legionnaires and adepts. As soon as they got into the ship, they spread out and secured the entire vessel.

They were in harmony with the Warden units. AIs from both races were programmed to see the other side as allies unless being attacked.

"Friendly protoss unit spotted. Identification: Purifier. Action: Ignore."

Legionnaires were quieter. They merely proceeded with their action without a single sound.

Viper sighed and rested the psionic blade on the ground. She didn't know who these protoss were, and she didn't care, but a small part of her hoped that these protoss might offer a way to help her. After all, the protoss had technology that made the best of the Dominion scientists look like children.

Twenty legionnaires walked into the bridge.

Viper was about to say something when the legionnaires stepped to the side. A protoss individual that reminded Viper of a mechanical humanoid female walked in.

Delta glanced at Jean's body before looking at Viper. During her period of grief, Viper subconsciously took off her goggles and mask, revealing her face. Without those obstacles, Delta, who had Jean's memories, could tell the spectre that killed Jean was Viper.

As soon as Jean's ship exited warp space in this middle of nowhere, she called for help from Delta and the Purifier Fleet, and Delta brought half a fleet with her to the rescue. If Jean was able to hold on for several more minutes, if Viper was a little less powerful, the girl would still be alive right now.

For the third time, there were no ifs.

"My name is Delta." Delta waved her hand, and two legionnaires walked to Jean's corpse, picked her up, and started walking over. Viper growled and rested her arm on her weapon, and Delta quickly spoke. "I am a friend of Jean Turner. An ally, if you will." She scanned Viper from top to bottom as if she didn't know the spectre. "You must be Viper."

Viper rose her eyebrows. "How do you know my name?"

Delta didn't shy away from helping out Jean. "Jean told me about you. She talked about you everyday. She loved you and she wanted to contact you, but she couldn't find you."

Viper gulped. It was possible. After becoming a spectre, in order to go undercover inside the Dominion and the Moebius, she did everything she could do clean up her steps and make herself look different. It wasn't surprising that Jean couldn't find her.

A hell lot of coincidence resulted in this tragedy.

The spectre did her best to keep tears from falling down her cheek. She didn't shed a tear when she was transformed into a spectre, but now she was in agony.

"Can you save Jean?" She asked as calmly as possible. It took all her strength to keep herself from breaking down and crying.

"I can keep her in stasis, but she's dead." Delta started thinking. "I can try to create an AI personality for her and install her into a special shell…"

Viper closed her eyes. "Any other option?"

"We are machines, Viper. We are not experts in biotechnology." Delta replied. "However, we know who are…"

"The zerg." Viper didn't even need to use her brain to come up with the answer. "But Jean and the Dominion have just taken down the Queen of Blades. Even if they didn't, we can't find a zerg faction willing to help us."

Delta started thinking as well. She had Stukov as an ally, but she didn't want Jean to become an infested. Neither her nor Jean cared about the looks, but from what they knew, they wouldn't stay in this world forever, and in long terms, having tentacles growing out of Jean's mouth could be a problem.

"Zerus." She suddenly said.

Zerus was the birthplace of the zerg. At the beginning of everything, the zerg merely referred to the beasts on Zerus. On that planet, all sorts of animals constantly fought and killed each other, taking the essence of their prey after a kill was delivered. Under this absolute example of Darwinism, every beast on the planet became a deadly hunter. They were so powerful that they attracted the attention of Amon.

Amon went to Zerus and enslaved most of the zerg, turning them into the Brood. He created the Overmind to control the Brood and hoped to use the zerg as a blade against the sector.

While most of the zerg were taken away, some remained on Zerus, and for millennials they reproduced and continued their ways. The primal zerg on the planet were more than a match for the best of the Swarm.

But that wasn't what interested Delta and Viper.

"Zerus has a primal spawning pool. It holds the most valuable essence on Zerus. If we can take Jean to that spawning pool, the essence in that pool should be enough to bring her back to life."

In the original history, Kerrigan, seeking power to avenge Raynor and take down Mengsk, went to Zerus, got into the spawning pool, and emerged as the primal Queen of Blades. Her power was amplified, and she was returned to a zerg.

Jean wasn't as powerful as Kerrigan, but she did have the backing of the entire Purifier Fleet.

"But she will become a zerg." Viper reminded.

"Zerg is better than dead." Delta stuck to her plan. Being turned to a zerg was better than being turned to an infested.

Viper finally nodded.

"Then so be it."


	102. Chapter 102

Five Purifier carriers and a mothership exited warp space above Zerus.

Delta and Viper stood at the bridge of the mothership. Jean was already put into stasis. While she was already dead, she wasn't gone. The stasis field kept her body warm and opened up opportunities for further actions.

"Executor, we have detected multiple local packs."

The Purifier AI controlling the mothership reported.

"Primal packs of local zerg, each commanded by their own pack leader." Delta commented, but she wasn't worried. The Purifiers has had enough time and resource to develop their forces. Just the ships Delta had with her held tens of thousands of Purifiers. They were enough to fight a war.

The primal zerg were good, but Purifiers were robots constructed by the most advanced race in the sector for war and war only. They weren't weaklings either.

"Locate the primal spawning pool and bring us there."

The carriers and the mothership descended. Random squads of primal flyers, powered by their feral nature, started to attack the Purifier ships. Their actions were made futile as the mothership and the carriers burned them to ashes and recharged the plasma shield they just grazed.

Observers were deployed across the planet. While some of the more powerful pack leaders could sense cloaked units just by their instincts, most of the primal zerg didn't mutate the necessary detection abilities simply because they have never faced cloaked enemies before. Therefore, they have never had a reason to make mutations accordingly. As a result, the observers had free reign over the planet.

In just minutes, one of them sent back some good news.

The Purifier ships reached the skies of the spawning pool.

"So this...thing is supposed to bring Jean back to life?"

Viper looked at the pool from one of the windows. The primal spawning pool, also known as the first spawning pool, was a body of water filled with purple liquid. It was by no means pretty, but it contained the essence of millions of years. Basically, it could make someone god, assuming that someone could survive the process.

If Kerrigan could enter the pool as a terran ghost and emerge as the Queen of Blades, then this pool should be enough to bring Jean Turner back to life.

But unlike with Kerrigan, Jean couldn't just be placed into the pool and then come out alive and pretty. Kerrigan was one of the most powerful individuals in the sector even before the transformation, and Jean was as normal and vulnerable as human beings get.

Some preparation had to be done. Thankfully, Delta had the necessary resource.

Inside the Purifier data web, Amanda frowned. One second she was testing the effect of a plasma blade on a hybrid. The next second she was standing in front of Dr. Narud.

"Why did you pull me out?" She asked. It was hardly a second in reality, but it felt like an hour to her. "I was making progress."

Dr. Narud, or rather Delta, replied.

"You have been given another task." She handed Amanda a stack of file. Amanda felt her head spin a bit before finishing the entire file. "Primal zerg essence? Used to revive human beings? Is that even possible?"

"That's what you have to find out." Delta, under disguise, ordered.

Amanda nodded and backed off the room. She thought about returning to her lab. The moment that thought dashed across her conscious, she found herself back inside her lab. Not raising any doubt at all, she went to work.

As she "left", Delta tapped another key, and another Amanda appeared in front of her.

"You have been given another task…"

After acquiring Amanda's AI, Delta made thousands of duplicants. Each one of these AIs thought they were special, and all of them were put under similar situations and ordered to approach the same topic. The only difference was that they approached the problem from different fronts. For example, in regard to hybrids, some of them experimented with using traditional weapons to take them out while others attempted "hacking" into their nerve cords and killing or disabling them.

Back to the moment. The attention of thousands of Amandas were put onto the issue of Jean. They worked hard, but most of their simulations failed to return the desirable result.

So Delta took another step.

She put all the AIs into the same environment and then used chrono boost on that environment. Chrono boost referred to the process when a protoss capital ship or nexus used their Khaydarin crystals to accelerate the time in a small area. It was energy exhausting, but its effect was worth the price.

AIs already had unbelievable efficiency inside the Purifier network. They didn't need to rest and they would never need be held back by limitation in resources. After being placed under chrono boost, these research AIs functioned faster than any other research team from any other race.

Within an hour in the outside world, they managed to accomplish the seemingly impossible.

A plan was given to Delta, who immediately took action. A large power field was projected by the mothership and covered the entirety of the primal spawning pool. Two hundred photon cannons, initially constructed on the mothership, were warped onto the surface of Zerus. They were reinforced by three thousand legionnaires and on thousands adepts, as well as nearly a hundred immortals and colossus.

Several primal zerg that were wondering around the field were slaughtered. Their bodies were tossed into the spawning pool and were quickly dissolved.

All of the Purifier buildings and units were placed around the spawning pool. The pool itself was corrosive and could eat away at anything that stepped in.

Several specially constructed Purifier shelled stepped into the pool. Their shells were designed to withstand the corrosion. They were able to carry the stasis field that contained Jean's body to the planet's surface and lowered it into the pool, along with a set of devices made for this purpose and this purpose alone.

Acid like pool water that contained the essence was pushed through a set of tubes and filters. Through the peak of Purifier technology, the essence was removed from the water and then pushed into the container, which just deactivated the stasis field over Jean.

Now harmless purple essence washed over Jean's body. At first nothing happened, and the process continued.

Countless units of essence were forced into Jean's body. Initially, the essence flowed around the container with no intention of entering Jean. The essence didn't recognize Jean's body as a living being. However, as more essence was pushed into the container and none of them were allowed to leave, the essence density started to grow. Eventually, the essence were forced to go into the only option they had.

Inside the mothership, Delta suddenly tilted her head.

"What is it?"

Viper wondered, trying her best to take her eyes off the camera that showed Jean's body in the middle of the purple midst.

"The primal zerg packs have noticed our presence, and they don't enjoy it." Delta's mechanical eyes started turning as she passed down orders.

"Terminate all attackers."

"As you wish, executor!"

Neither side tried to communicate with each other. Delta didn't feel the need to, and primal zerg weren't exactly known for their love for peace.

Several packs started encrouching on the Purifier position. While the ground units were slower, the air forces from both races were the first to engage.

The primal zerg packs were made up of primal mutalisks and primal guardians. Unfortunately, just like the Tal'darim protoss, these primal units were limited by their social structure. The primal lived in the very definition of Darwinism. The only way for them to grow stronger was by killing other primal zerg, and all of their mutations were aimed to enhance their ability to survive.

This ensured all the primal units present were tough, but this also meant the primal zerg didn't have transports and, more importantly, capital ships.

After all, a capital ship by itself only meant a larger target.

The Purifiers, on the other hand, covered all fronts. Mirages were on the two flanks. Scouts were in front. The mothership remained over the spawning pool while the five carriers formed the main force against the zerg.

The battle turned one sided the moment it began. Another problem of the primal way of life was shown. The only order they received was to charge, and all of them charged with their top speed. Some mutalisks were faster than orders. In other words, several hundred mutalisks, the strongest in the horde, reached the Purifiers minutes before the rest of the thousands of mutalisks and guardians.

They were welcomed by a storm of projectiles. Ion cannons, anti-matter missiles, purifier beams, interceptors, and photon cannons opened fire with all the fury in the world.

The mutalisks fell like flies. Their simple mindedness prompted them to keep on moving forward, but this fearless natural only accelerated their demise. By the time the vanguards reached the Purifier fleet, they were already one fourth of their number.

They only had time to launch one wave of glaive worms before being gunned down. Mirages protected themselves with their phasing armor while scouts simply tanked the damage with their stronger shields.

By the time the last mutalisk fell, the rest of the primal fleet had finally arrived, but their best flyers were already gone.

Mirages and interceptors ravaged the rest of the mutalisks and the scouts shot the guardians out of the sky. Carriers advanced nearly unopposed. Their yellow purifier beams ripped through any defense and their photon cannons helped out the mirages with the mutalisks.

As the massacre continued in the air, the primal ground forces advanced. Several pack leaders led the charge.

Ten minutes later, these primal zerg turned and ran with their tail between their legs. Even the most stubborn pack leader had no choice but to run.

Zerglings, roaches, and hydralisks were cut open by legionnaires and adepts. Ultralisks and tyrannozors initially advanced unopposed, but that changed when dozens of immortals stepped in. When a tyrannozor somehow took another step forward in the hail of anti-matter rounds, a purification beam dropped down from the mothership and obliterated the tyrannozor, alone with dozens of primal around it.

The smell of barbeque covered the air.

The Purifier fleet managed to finish the primal fleet, if it could even be called a fleet, and returned to unload hell on the primal ground forces. Scouts and mirages dove down and used their anti-air weapons on the ground. Carriers sent out swarms of interceptors. They were insanely effective against smaller, lighter armored targets. Pack leaders, ultralisks, and roaches had more armor and could shrug off several hundred interceptors, but when there were tens of thousands of those small Purifier drones, armor started to grow less effective.

Finally, the pack leaders backed off.

Delta didn't bother to pursue. While killing all the primal could get more essence, she didn't forget Kerrigan needed the essence in these primal to return to the state of the Queen of Blades.

As the brief slaughter concluded, Jean's resurrection was brought to a close as well.

After the first surge of essence was forced into Jean, the rest gladly followed. Gradually, a purple egg started to form around Jean. When the essence could no longer be put into Jean, Delta knew the time was now.

In a bone chilling sound, the shell started cracking. The Purifier units stood by and watched. All of a sudden, the entire egg exploded from the inside. Scraps of the shell hit the Purifiers' platings.

A figure walked out.

Viper's mouth hung open as she saw Jean from the eyes of one of the Purifiers. She wasn't shocked because Jean was a zerg monster. In fact, considering the Purifiers just pumped a sea of essence into Jean, Viper would've felt more normal if Jean was a monster.

Instead, Jean was still the blonde, young human girl. Her hair didn't turn to snake like tentacles. A pair of spine wings didn't grow out of her back. Her fingers were still fingers. Her skin was soft and bare. The carapace the Queen of Blades had simply wasn't there.

Jean held her fist tight.

It was good to be alive...


	103. Chapter 103

Jean stepped into the bridge of the mothership. She was in a ghost hostile environment suit. The Umojan uniform she wore was dissolved in the pool.

It has been two hours since Jean came out of that egg. When she was out, Delta picked her up and brought her into the mothership. The Purifier fleet wasted no time to recall all units and buildings and return to high orbit.

From that time until now, Jean did her best to find out what she gained, or lost, during the transformation. Fortunately, she was still the Jean Turner that Viper stabbed in the heart. She could still feel her watch and she still couldn't feel any emotion.

So the changes were more normal.

Jean attempted to channel her inner psionic power and didn't feel anything. Not disappointed, she did a full body examination, which came out clean as well.

She was about to think all the essence did was revive her when she realized something. In one of the experiments, she punched a sandbag with all her strength. Before, the bag would just bounce back, but this time, the bag literally exploded.

The explosive energy in Jean's punch ripped the entire sandbag apart. It didn't even have time to be knocked back before being completely obliterated.

Super strength. Checked.

Jean took out a small dagger and tapped it on the tip of her index finger. The steel broke through the skin and drew some blood. Jean pulled the dagger back and watched her wound.

Just like she imagined, the wound closed in ten seconds. Granted, it was barely a papercut, but it healed dozens of times faster nonetheless. She tried some more drastic examinations, and all of them approved her hypothesis.

Rapid healing. Checked.

Jean started to understand what was going on. She did a series of other experiments, which proved her right.

The essence she received, after bringing her back to life, worked on her body. Not only so, whatever measure the research Ais came up with made sure all the essence that remained from the resurrection went into Jean's physical body and were burnt up enhancing the already present structure. In other words, the energy that used to be spent on generating carapace and spines were used to make Jean's muscle stronger and her skin tougher.

This gave Jean a list of powers, including rapid healing, super strength, astonishing reflex, and a nearly impenetrable skin.

Also, Jean realized her eyes could see further, her ears could hear further, and all her senses were enhanced. All of these came together and gave Jean almost total control over anything within a ten meter radius. She tried to close her eyes while walking down the hallway, and all her senses made sure she knew everything in her way.

She briefly looked into the mirror and realized her eyes turned purple as well.

"Jean," As soon as Jean walked in, Viper walked over. Her eyes were slightly red. "I'm sorry." She said concisely.

Jean smiled warmly. The two have already nudged a bit when she first got onto the ship before she went to do the self examination, but a couple minutes weren't enough to free Viper from the burden of killing Jean. In response to the spectre's apologies, Jean acted like she didn't care, and that wasn't exactly false.

Jean didn't care because Viper was a valuable asset and she needed the female spectre. If anything, guilt, mixed with love, could be a good source of loyalty.

"It's fine." She replied sweetly. "You had no way of knowing it was me."

Thankfully, Delta stepped in to break the moment. In the avatar of a mechanical protoss, she had no need to play nice.

"What should we do next?"

When Jean was away, Delta has provided some background information to Viper, who now knew the basic situation about the Umojans and the Raiders and the Dominion and Kerrigan. Basically, Delta told Viper every piece of information that was available to the outside world.

"Kerrigan and the Keystone. We need to secure both." Taking the Keystone meant delaying Amon's resurrection and securing Kerrigan meant bringing the Swarm to the side against Amon. Both were important. "Where are the Raiders now?"

"Unknown. They have covered all their trails, likely to keep Kerrigan safe from the Dominion."

Raynor was smart. He knew while Mengsk needed the Swarm as an enemy, he wasn't willing to let a powerless Kerrigan go just so the Dominion could have a target to fight. The threat of the Swarm could be replaced by the threat of the protoss or of the Umojans, and the Dominion emperor wouldn't hesitate to tie up loose ends. After getting out of Char, Raynor brought the Hyperion to an undisclosed location and shut off most of the communication with the outside world. He didn't know how long it would go on, but he did know he would do everything he could to keep Kerrigan safe.

He just got her back. He wouldn't lose her again.

"But if the Dominion can't find the Raiders, neither can we." Viper noticed the problem.

"Actually…"

Jean walked to a computer.

She was in the Raiders for months. Thinking she didn't leave a backdoor for herself was nothing but insulting.

* * *

Undisclosed location.

Tychus Findlay slammed his armored fist on his plate and shattered it to a million pieces.

"How the hell am I supposed to fill my stomach with this much food?"

He complained. The food he was given was not just military typed cans but also small in numbers. It only made him half full.

A staff member threw his hands up at the complaint.

"We don't know how long it will be until resupply. Captain Horner just issued all food and water to be rationed."

Tychus growled. It had been days since he was in this middle of nowhere, and life was getting boring. To someone as large and restless as him, it was torture. He talked to Raynor for several times, but the man had his hands full with Kerrigan. Hell, he spent twenty hours a day with her.

The situation even got to a point where Raynor ignored Tychus and the rest of the Raiders. Matthew Horner did his best to keep the ship together, but sooner or later they had to do something. Even the common soldiers were growing in discontent. Some wondered if they should just put down the Queen of Blades while others demanded more action against the Dominion. Some of the mercenaries were pissed for not having enough liquor. The credit supply was running short as well. The cells were crowded with grumpy mercenaries who decided to unload their anger on each other.

The man in the blue armor felt like the Hyperion was a sinking ship. Fortunately, he had a ticket out. Unfortunately, he wasn't willing to use that ticket until he absolutely had to.

That time might be soon.

Tychus shoved the broken pieces of the plate onto the ground before standing up, crushing the pieces even more with his armored feet. He walked out of the cantine, down the halls, and toward the lab.

He was blocked by four Warden marines and a Warden Command Unit. Their blue plating signified their loyalty to Raynor.

"You do not have access." The Command Unit announced.

"Step aside, clanker. I want to see Jimmy." Tychus stepped forward, but the Warden marines weren't messing around. All five Warden units took a step back, raised their combat shields, and placed their rifles on top of the shields.

"You do not have access. Approach, and you will be disabled."

Tychus held his fist tight. Just when the situation was about to turn ugly, Raynor's voice came from inside the room.

"Let him through."

"Affirmative." The Warden units stepped to the side. Tychus smirked and walked by, bumping into one of the marines on purpose. The marine's AI immediately moved to stable the shell.

Inside the room, Kerrigan, now in a ghost suit, sat on a bed. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, but the snakelike feature made the ponytail longer and more menacing. Raynor sat in front of her with care in his eyes. He barely took his eyes off Kerrigan when Tychus entered.

"Jimmy."

"Tychus. What is it?"

Tychus glanced at Kerrigan and suddenly felt a surge of rage from the bottom of his heart.

"What is it? We have been trapped here for three damn days! We are running out of food and water. We don't have credits because we haven't taken a job for weeks. The merc boys are getting pissed off. Hold off for a few more days and they might try to start a mutiny and take over the ship." He suddenly realized that meant he could shoot some people, but he quickly put the satisfying thought down.

Raynor sighed.

"We both know if we go out, even to the New Deadman's Port, we will get hunted down by both the Dominion and the mercenaries."

New Deadman's Port was a series of space platforms that were set up by mercenaries after the initial Deadman's Port was destroyed by the Dominion Alpha and Omega fleet. The mercenaries inside the port smirked upon Dominion law and influence, and they would usually welcome Raynor and his rebel ship, but this time it was different. Raynor was harboring the Queen of Blades, and Kerrigan and the Swarm has caused the death of billions of terran. Almost all of the mercenaries have fought against or have lost someone to the zerg. They wouldn't hesitate to make Kerrigan pay.

But Tychus wasn't into logic. Plus, the mercenaries had a good point.

Kerrigan did kill billions, and she should pay for it.

"So we are just going to sit around until either the mercenaries put a bullet into us or we starve to death? Is that it? Is that what you want for us?" He pushed on. When Raynor didn't answer, he slammed his fist on a table. The loud bang caught Kerrigan by surprise and made her flinch, and Raynor was obviously pissed off.

"Stay back, Tychus." He demanded slowly but threateningly. "You don't want to do this."

But Tychus didn't stay back.

"What happened to you?" He pushed even further. "We were brothers, Jimmy! We would take bullets for each other. And now you're willing to throw away the lives of me and all the boys that followed you? For what? For a bitch who killed a fraction of all the terran in the sector?"

"That is enough!" Raynor stood up. "Warden, escort Mr. Findlay out."

The Warden marines walked in. Two stepped in between Raynor and Tychus and two stood guard with their weapons trained on Tychus in case the large man tried to do something.

Tychus didn't do anything. He merely gave Raynor one last look before turning and walking out of the room.

The Warden units followed him. As the room became private again, Kerrigan sighed.

This was one of the first times she spoke since she was turned back to human.

"You should kill me."

"What?"

"You should kill me and take the Hyperion back to Deadman's Port. Show my body to the sector and announce you have delivered the kill, and you will get support from all sides. Even Mengsk will hesitate to kill someone who took down the infamous Queen of Blades." Kerrigan's words were ice cold. "This will open up an opportunity."

"Opportunity? For what?"

"To take down Mengsk." Kerrigan suddenly opened her eyes and stared at Raynor. Hatred was in her eyes. "Make that man scream and die."

Kerrigan was in a terrible position. Sure, she used to be a ghost who would do anything necessary to get the job done, but killing a single target and his guards was different from killing billions of people, most of them innocent civilians. The guilt of what she did as the Queen of Blades constantly hang over her head. While Jean could commit genocide and not lose a single night of sleep, Kerrigan couldn't.

She hasn't slept since being brought back onto the Hyperion. Everytime she closed her eyes, she could hear billions of screams echoing through her ears.

At this point, the only thing keeping her alive was her hatred for Mengsk and her love for Raynor. If she sacrificed herself, she could save Raynor from this difficult situation and do her best to lead him to Mengsk's destruction. There were surely other, more efficient ways, but she was too exhausted to try them.

Raynor shook his head. This was never going to happen. Even if he was willing to put a bullet through Kerrigan's head and show her body around like a trophy, the prophecy he witnessed didn't allow him to do that.

At some point before the battle of Char, Raynor was visited by Dark Prelate Zeratul, an old friend who he has known since the Brood War. After the Brood War, Zeratul, who blamed himself for the destruction of Aiur, went on a quest for redemption.

Apparently he found it.

Zeratul showed Raynor a vision and told him darkness was coming. Amon. According to his prophecy, the only one who could stop Amon was Kerrigan.

Kerrigan lives, and the sector would live on. Kerrigan dies, and the sector would be doomed.

That was why Raynor was willing to put everything and everyone at risk for Kerrigan. Love was a part of the reason, but it wasn't the only one. Unfortunately, he couldn't exactly reveal this piece of top secret information to the entire Raynor's Raiders. Knowing they were all going to die wasn't good for the morale.

As much as it pained him, he had to keep everyone, including Tychus, in the dark.


	104. Chapter 104

The halls of the Hyperion looked dim under the red hallway lights.

Tychus stood in front of the Hyperion's lab. The Warden guards didn't do anything to him because he wasn't in their jurisdiction. They weren't programmed to realize something was wrong either.

The large man inhaled a deep breath from his cigarette before tossing it onto the floor and crushing it with his boot. He glanced at a watch inside the armor with the corner of his eye before smirking.

 _It's about time._

He walked toward the Warden guards. A few Raider researchers in white suits looked at him strangely, but they didn't waste too much time on it. Tychus wasn't really the most welcomed person onboard.

"You do not have access." This time the Warden Command Unit had something to say about it.

Tychus didn't answer. With lightning speed, he pulled out a giant pistol from his belt and shot the Warden Command Unit in the core processor.

The Command Unit collapsed without another word.

There were a dozen Warden marines in front of the lab's door. The research facilities should be one of the most guarded places of any faction, but the Raiders had confidence in their security. After all, they were in a battlecruiser in the middle of nowhere.

Who could get past the ship's multiple scanners, layers of armors and other defenses, and enter the lab without making any noise at all?

Whatever Warden units that were there reacted. The fact that Tychus attacked one of them automatically made him a hostile, and the default command against hostiles was immediate termination.

All the Warden units raised their shields and guns and started blasting. Gauss bullets clashed with Tychus' blue armor, but the piece of armor was modified by the best engineer in the Dominion. The Raynor Warden units, on the other hand, were made from whatever scrap the Raiders could put together.

Tychus smirked and fired back. Two Warden marines collapsed while the rest continued shooting. The shootout took most of the Raider bystanders by complete surprise, but most of these men and women have seen combat. They immediately ran and, if they couldn't, took cover.

A wave of alarms was sent to all over the ship. Within minutes, reinforcement would arrive and put down Tychus, no matter how hard his armor was.

But Tychus wasn't worried. This was just the beginning.

Meanwhile, thirty war pig mercenaries walked into the ship's bridge. The two Warden guards at the door didn't stop them because unlike the lab, the bridge was a hub for movement. The war pigs had the authority. Sure, thirty of them, fully armed, seemed too high in numbers to be reasonable, but the outdated Warden AIs failed to tell the difference.

"What is wrong with the convict this time?" Horner was busy trying to sort out what happened when he noticed the unwanted guests. "Hey! What are you doing here?" Unlike the Warden units, he wasn't stupid.

The war pigs didn't answer. Those who took the job of mercenaries and survived weren't known for their love of words. They were known for their practicality.

Horner watched in absolute shock as these war pigs raised their guns at the crew members.

Gunshots rang out.

The Raider crew members and officers fell one by one. As experienced as they were, just like Horner, they were caught by surprise. They were mowed down like grass.

One of the war pigs turned on Horner. A bloodthirsty grin appeared on his face, and he pulled the trigger, but a second before he did that, a Warden marine moved between him and Horner and raised his shield. The war pig's rounds hit the marine's shield. The Warden marine charged forward and smashed into the war pig, knocking him onto the ground with its shield. It finished the rouge war pig off with a single gauss bullet to the head.

The bridge wasn't defenseless either. There were security soldiers, biological Raiders and Warden marines alike, in place. These guards, after being taken by the initial surprise, retaliated.

The firefight was in close range. One moment a Raider shot a rogue war pig in the face. The next moment he was taken out by another war pig with a bayonet in melee.

Matt Horner lowered his head and tried to stay alive. Unlike Raynor, who carried a sidearm by him 24/7, or Tychus, who went a step beyond and wore his armor 24/7, Horner wasn't a fan of carrying weapons. He considered himself more of a commander-in-the-bridge type.

But now he really wished he had a gun.

The Warden marine that saved his life was on the ground. A hole was in its helmet. Sparks occasionally popped up around the armor. After taking out that first war pig, the Warden marine proceeded to gun down two more war pigs before the third one finally got him.

Thankfully, the tide was turning, at least in here.

The war pigs were experienced mercenaries, but the Raiders weren't bad either. Warden marines were especially so. Their AIs made them especially effective in this circumstance. Take aim. Pull the trigger. Move on. That was it. When fear and anxiety didn't play a part, most of the shots found their target.

The two Warden marines at the door also got into action. They blocked the narrow doorway and started picking off the war pigs one by one.

Eventually, the mercenaries realized the situation was no longer ideal for them. What was left of the attack party tried to flee, but the Warden marines gunned every single one of them down.

As the dust settled, Horner stood up and glanced around the battlefield. Control panels and computer screens were rigged with bullets. Those trained to work on these devices were killed or heavily wounded. Most of the Raider guards were killed or wounded. Only a few Warden marines stood vigilantly.

It was a victory, but it was a narrow one.

Horner wasn't relieved. Even aside from the casualties, he still had no idea what was going on.

These war pig mercenaries were hired by the Raiders, but now they suddenly decided to turn against their employers. Even more, before the attack, he thought he heard something about Tychus…

Horner glanced around, trying to find a war pig that survived the battle for questioning, but the Wardens were swift. They confirmed that every single hostile was executed.

He turned back to the officers that were still alive inside the bridge.

"Get back to your post…"

The undertaking struck several locations of the ship at once.

Lab. Armory. Bridge.

But one of these locations was unlike the others.

Inside the room, Kerrigan's ears suddenly shook slightly. Her psionic power, though dwindled, still sensed something was wrong.

"Do you hear gunshots?"

Raynor, who was still trying to convince her to join him and go to a remote area and live a quiet life, frowned. "Gunshots?" He listened as well, but before he could really hear anything, a loud explosion appeared right outside the door.

The next second a Warden marine shell crashed through the door.

A hammer security walked in. Bullet marks were dotted around his armor, but none of them found their way to somewhere important. On the other hand, his modified grenade launchers easily ripped through the Warden marine guards.

Warden AIs were good, but they couldn't allow a marine shell to survive a direct hit from a mercenary enhanced grenade launcher round.

Half a dozen war pigs followed.

Raynor stood up with fury in his eyes. "What are you doing? Stay back!"

The hammer security smirked. "You don't get to order me around anymore, _boss_." He turned, glanced at Kerrigan, and lifted his grenade launcher slightly. "The Queen of Blades. I will get paid handsomely for this."

"Stand down, soldier!" Raynor realized something was seriously off. His hand reached for his sidearm.

The hammer security smirked before pointing his weapon at Raynor.

The large man took out his revolver and started shooting at the hammer security, but all the bullets simply bounced off. The man inside the armor smirked. What did Raynor expect? Gauss rifles bullets couldn't touch him! What could a single revolver do?

Suddenly, Kerrigan's eyes turned yellow. Seeing her love in danger, she pushed her power to its limit. The hammer security's expression turned from pride to horror as he felt himself lifted up. He tried to pull the trigger, but his fingers simply refused.

He watched as he was literally crushed.

The war pigs behind the dismantled hammer security tried to open fire. They thought Kerrigan was powerless after the Purification, but they were wrong. Queen of Blades or not, Kerrigan was still stronger than a handful of mercenaries.

As the dust settled, Kerrigan turned back to Raynor.

"Something's really wrong." She stated the obvious. Raynor nodded and tried to contact Horner.

The ship's security forces were mobilized. Raiders, Wardens, and mercenaries who remained loyal to Raynor joined the fight against the rogue combatants all over the vessel. Mercenary after mercenary was taken down. Gradually, the gunshots started to go quiet.

But that wasn't the case for everywhere.

"Fire in the hole!"

In front of the lab, Tychus tossed a grenade into the middle of the Warden lines. The shredder grenade exploded and easily ripped through every Warden and Raider within its blast radius.

Before the defenders could react, Tychus charged forward with his modified gauss rifle blasting. Three Raiders collapsed before being able to return fire. Warden units tried their best, but their hardware simply wasn't sufficient.

Seeing Tychus closing in, the two Warden marines made a last stand. If they had self destruction sequences like the Umojan Warden units, Tychus would be in some serious trouble, but these marines didn't...

Two more pieces of Warden wreckage hit the floor. Their AI was forced offline.

Tychus smirked and kicked open the metal lab door. Two Raiders opened fire on him. He shot the first in the head and hit the second in the chest. A few researchers in white tried to flee or hide, but he picked them off one by one in cold blood.

Finally, Egon Stetmann gulped and took several steps back.

"Don't do this…"

Tychus shot the scientist in the heart and ended his plea.

As all the obstacles were gone, Tychus saw what he came for.

The Xel'naga Keystone.

Tychus Findley, after being convicted to Dominion Prison, was only recently freed. Unlike what he told Raynor, he didn't break out of jail. In fact, he was set loose by Emperor Arcturus Mengsk himself.

The two made a deal. In exchange for freedom, Tychus promised to help Mengsk take out the Queen of Blades. If he refused, a hidden switch in his blue armor would put him down forever.

Tychus didn't want to die, so he bent. He didn't show any sign of this betrayal before because he believed following Raynor and his crusade could lead to a clean shot at Kerrigan, but now he was no longer willing to wait. Sarah Kerrigan, AKA his ticket to freedom, was within his arm's reach, but Raynor, good old Raynor, didn't let him do anything.

He has had enough. If Raynor wanted to die for his girl and his creed, then so be it. He, Tychus, wasn't going to go down with this sinking ship.

Raynor was his brother, but not anymore.

After being refused by Raynor, Tychus went to find several groups of mercenaries who had a grudge against Raynor and the Raiders for everything that happened recently. Give a few hints about how Mengsk would be willing to pay the mercenaries handsomely, and these men gladly switched sides. Sure, a couple of them stuck to their creed, but Tychus and his newly gained goon managed to take care of them swiftly and quietly.

Tychus now had a small army under him, and he sent them against the Hyperion from the inside, where it was the most vulnerable. Most of the targets were simply distractions, and he only had two objectives in mind. First, kill Kerrigan, and he would be freed from his moving prison.

Second, bring Mengsk the Keystone, and he might get an extra stack of credits.

Tychus took the Keystone out of its container and started walking through the hallway toward hanger, leaving a trail of bodies behind him.


	105. Chapter 105

Raynor and Kerrigan charged into the bridge. A wall of twenty Warden marines was at the door. After what happened with the mercenaries, Captain Horner wasn't willing to take any chances.

"Sir."

"What the hell is going on, Matt?"

"Sir, a group of mercenaries went rogue and started attacking us. A squad of war pigs attacked the bridge and killed a lot of good men. Also," Captain Horner pressed a button, and a videotape appeared on the main computer screen. "you need to see this."

In the video stood a large man in blue armor. A mountain of bodies was at his feet. Raiders. Wardens. Mercenaries. Ordinary crew and staff members. All of them were ravaged and lifeless.

"Tychus attacked the lab and killed everyone inside, including Stetmann." He paused. The nerdy scientist was one of the most intelligent people on the ship. Rebellion wasn't exactly the ideal life choice for the educated, and scientists and engineers among the Raiders was rare. Someone as talented as Egon Stetmann was even rarer.

Raynor held his fist tight. "Damn it, Tychus!" As much as he was annoyed with the young man's shyness and hesitant way of speaking, he couldn't help but admit there was a lot of things he couldn't accomplish without Stetmann. He even played a huge role in putting the artifact to work.

Horner continued.

"This was from three minutes ago. Tychus went to the hanger and took out all the guards. I have sent a squad over, but he managed to escape through a shuttle."

"We need to leave." Kerrigan suddenly spoke up. She gave Raynor some time and space to deal with the recent rebellion and losses, but her tactical side demanded her to speak up. "There is no way your friend Tychus is working alone. I have a bad feeling about this. This location is compromised. We need to leave as soon as possible."

Horner cut her off. "I tried. Tychus sent a squad of rogue mercenaries to the warp drive. They took out the guards. The Warden reinforcement terminated them, but before they died, they managed to destroy enough of the warp drive to keep us from warping away. Swann is fixing the drive, but…"

"But we might not have the time." Raynor finished the sentence. "We can't take any chances. All units enter battle position."

The crew members who survived the onslaught ran to their posts. Mercenaries still loyal to the Raiders, as well as other Raiders, did their best to prepare for combat. Raynor and Kerrigan stood at the bridge with their lips tight.

But the fact is, when someone is afraid of something, that something tends to come true.

Raynor's heart sank as seventeen battlecruisers exited warp space. Their red plating shouted their allegiance.

"Sir, their ships register as that of the Alpha Squadron. 2 Gorgons. 15 Minotaurs. Commanding officer is Admiral Princeton." Horner explained. Perhaps the Raiders didn't have information on random Dominion fleets, but the Alpha Squadron was one of the top Dominion fleets. Apart from securing Korhal, the Alpha Squadron was used as a propaganda weapon to demonstrate the Dominion prowess to the people. Everything about it, its ship types and numbers, as well as its commander and its flag, was open to the public.

The Alpha Squadron didn't even bother hiding it. They had confidence they wouldn't lose to someone just because the enemies had their information.

By the way, the Alpha Squadron, alongside the Omega Squadron, attacked Deadman's Port, wiped out Jean's mercenary fleet, and took her prisoner.

Raynor didn't know that, but that might be the last of his concern right now. After all, for the moment, it was one ship with a cripped crew member count against seventy battlecruisers, all armed and ready.

"How long until the warp drive is back online?" He demanded.

"I'm working as fast as I can, cowboy!" The Raider chief engineer replied through the comm. His hands barely stopped as he spoke. "I need more time!"

But the Raiders didn't have more time. The Alpha Squadron struck without hesitation. They have already established communication with Tychus and knew one of their objectives was safe. In other words, they no longer needed the Hyperion to be in one piece. The second objective, Kerrgan, was going to be terminated anyway. Blowing the hostile ship out of the sky was the cleanest way possible.

Yamato Cannons were charged up. Admiral Princeton ordered his battlecruisers to fire in pairs. Whenever two cannon rounds left the chamber, the Hyperion would be forced to use its short ranged jump drives. After the Hyperion got out of the way, two more battlecruisers would shoot.

"Evasive actions on my command!" In the desperate moment, Horner did the best he could. He tried to take or dodge as many shots as possible without using the jump drives. Only when the shots were too close to move away from did he order a jump.

Thanks to his talents, the Hyperion survived with most of its structures intact.

After unloading one round of Yamatos, the battlecruisers started moving forward. Vikings and wraiths were flung out. The laser batteries on the Hyperion retaliated as best as they could, but they were barely able to keep the swarm of Dominion fighters back.

After the fighters picked off the air to air laser batteries, they started targeting the hull and the armor.

Inside the Hyperion, all the Wardens, Raiders, and mercenaries had their weapons and armors ready, but they might never have the opportunity to use them. The Dominion had no intention of sending boarding parties. They merely wanted to blast the Hyperion apart with sheer firepower.

Raynor and Kerrigan exchanged a look, but there was nothing they could do. Even as the Queen of Blades, Kerrigan couldn't get the Hyperion out of this situation without the Swarm. As a ghost, she could do even less.

That was when someone who could do much more arrived.

Twenty white battlecruisers jumped in a distance away from both the Alpha Squadron and the Hyperion.

"Men and women of the Umojan Protectorate! During the battle of Char, the Terran Dominion betrayed us and stabbed us in the back! While our people gave our lives taking down the Queen of Blades, the Dominion strike teams and assault vessels attacked our rear! They have killed good men and women, and now they will pay the price with their blood."

After being revived on Zerus, Jean returned to the Protectorate. Thankfully, during the time she was gone, Stukov remained loyal to Jean and Delta. As a result, even when Jean was missing in action, the high ranking Umojan officials continued to obey Jean's last commands. The Umojan Fleet remained vigilante. The Umojan factories continued to pump out Warden units.

As soon as Jean returned, she regained control. She loaded up twenty battlecruisers of freshly assembled Warden units and led them to the location of the Hyperion via a backdoor she installed in the Warden tactical network.

She came in just in time to save the day.

All twenty battlecruisers started engaging the Alpha Squadron. Admiral Princeton dispatched most of his ships to fend off the Umojans. The pressure on the Raiders dropped drastically.

The Umojans weren't as defenseless as the Raiders. Instead of desperately trying to shoot the Dominion fighters out of the sky, the Umojans utilized a full system of fighters and capital ship bombardment. The Warden network installed into every battlecruiser and every fighter made sure the human pilots knew where friendly projectiles would be seconds before these projectiles landed. This minimized the friendly fire.

The Dominion weren't bad either. As one of the top fleets, the Alpha Squadron held its ground. Great losses were taken on both sides.

"Send in our troops and take that rebel ship." At this point, Admiral Princeton could no longer afford to play it cleanly. They no longer had the overwhelming firepower to take down the cockroach of a ship, and as costly as it would be, he needed to send in boarding parties.

The Alpha Squadron was equipped with tens of thousands of men, and a significant portion of them were soldiers. Unfortunately, most of the battlecruisers that held these troops were tied up with the Umojans, and the single Minotaur trading punches with the Hyperion only had several thousands men aboard. The captain sent in all of them.

Fortunately for these boarding parties, most of the Hyperion's guns were picked off. Unfortunately for them, they had something much more deadly than guns to deal with.

Sarah Kerrigan entered the field. The recent days have been exhausting for her, both physically and mentally, and she knew she needed to let off some steam. After giving Raynor a kiss, she grabbed onto a C-10 canister rifle and started going from landing site to landing site.

"It's Kerrigan! Take her down!" In front of a drop pod, a marine captain screamed as he was shot in the head. Four marines in the same drop pod raised their weapons and pulled the trigger like crazy as they realized who the attacker was.

They lasted two seconds.

The former Queen of Blades slaughtered her way through drop pod after drop pod. It was hardly a challenge for her. Without massive numbers, heavy weapons, and psionic support, the marines and marauders needed a miracle to stop her. It was only the fact that the Raider forces were severely weakened during Tychus' rebellion that kept the boarding parties from getting crushed instantly.

Inside the bridge, Horner checked at the scanners. The Minotaur they were facing was well equipped, but the Hyperion used to be Mengsk's flagship. Even though the Hyperion was battered and bruised, the two were still at a similar level.

"Sir, we should be able to hold this…"

Suddenly, a transmission request appeared on the screen.

"Sir, it's the Umojan Fleet."

"Patch it through."

Just like Raynor and Horner expected, Jean's face, once more disguised, popped up.

"Commander Raynor. Captain Horner." She acknowledged. "The time is limited so I'll spare you the courtesy. I am here for the Xel'naga Keystone."

Raynor frowned. He was happy the Umojan Fleet jumped in and saved the day, but he knew at the back of his mind that the Umojans were a separate political and military faction. Their interest was largely unknown.

"Why do you want it?"

Something must be up with the Keystone. Tychus went through great trouble to steal it, and now Jean was here with an armada. Raynor knew the Keystone purified Kerrigan, but now the Swarm was leaderless and scattered across the sector. Last time he heard, the main zerg fleet, commanded by Broodmother Zagara who managed to flee back to Char with a small squad of survivors, was pinned down by General Warfield. There was no desperate need for the Keystone.

Jean knew she shouldn't tell the truth.

"My sources in the Dominion told me about an operation to mobilize their agents onboard the Hyperion and steal the artifact. I don't know why, but I do know the Dominion backstabbed me and almost killed me, so I need to deny whatever plan they have in mind."

Raynor frowned. Even now, he didn't want to give Tychus out to someone like Jean. But he and his Raiders didn't have the power to track down Tychus and make him pay for his crimes, and there was no way the commander of the Raiders would let someone whose hands were stained in Raider blood to run free.

"His name is Tychus Findlay. He has the artifact and he got into a shuttle and fled. It was thirty minutes ago."

Jean nodded. Unfortunately for her, when she was back with the Raiders, she didn't have as much resource and technology as she does now. She was able to plant down a homing beacon and an administrator overriding system, but that was pretty much it. She couldn't exactly see or hear what was going on inside the ship.

She turned back to the entire Umojan security network.

"All units, track down a blue Raider shuttle. If you identify the target, report in and do not engage."

"Yes sir!"

The battle on the outside continued. Fighters exploded. Battlecruisers gradually lost their armor. Eventually, one of the Dominion battlecruisers was so ravaged by Umojan fire that it was forced to warp away. The modified warp drives allowed the crew members to get their vessels out of this mess whenever they needed to.

One ship became two, which became three, which quickly became half a dozen. Eventually, it was clear to Admiral Princeton that victory was getting further and further away.

But his honor didn't allow him to fail so miserably. Sure, it was 8 against 20 + 1, but it was hardly an excuse for one of the best Dominion fleets.

He decided to make one last effort.

"All ships, move toward the Hyperion and take it out! For the Emperor! For the Dominion!"

Of course, the actual orders were much more complicated than a single sentence. Three Dominion battlecruisers remained in their ground and tried to buy as much time for the rest of the fleet as possible. Meanwhile, the other five battlecruisers advanced toward the Hyperion.

Thrusters to maximum.


	106. Chapter 106

The full might of the Umojan Fleet quickly disposed of the three battlecruisers. The drop pods the Dominion shot at the Umojan ships were largely intercepted in midair. The capital ships quickly followed the fate of the drop pods. Two of the ships were forced to flee. The third one tried to leave as well when things got too bad, but it got fully surrounded by Umojan fighters. Its warp drive was ripped apart, and the entire ship, along with thousands of soldiers and crew members, was reduced to floating debris in the endless space.

The sacrifice of the three ships barely delayed the twenty or so Umojan vessels, but by the time the Umojans got through, the Dominion Fleet was already closing in on the Hyperion. The Raiders have slaughtered the boarding parties to the last, and their ship was doing its best to put more distance between itself and the impending red fleet.

Jean noticed that as well. Her eyes flickered as she waved her hand and passed down an order.

"F-1 Squadron. Terminate the Dominion Fleet."

Inside the hangers of all twenty battlecruisers, five hundred starfighters activated their systems.

These fighters were special compared to standard vikings and wraiths. For one thing, they literally did not have cockpits. In other words, they didn't have pilots.

Warden starfighters.

Programming the AIs for Warden marines and marauders was much more easier than programming those for starfighters and armors. When she was with the Raiders, Jean was limited by knowledge and resource to make trials. Thankfully, after joining, or rather taking over, the Umojans, she had the necessary components.

She put the AIs in place a while ago, but she quickly realized simply modifying the vikings and wraiths to fit the AIs was inefficient. Instead, she decided to design a completely new type of starfighter.

Sure, she was no expert with fighter development, but the Umojan Protectorate was a big place, and with a leader as determined as Jean who was capable of utilizing all the resources ruthlessly and efficiently, the power of the Protectorate was fully utilized. Within weeks, the army of Umojan scientists have designed a new type of starfighters capable of fully putting the advantage of the AIs to effect, and when Jean was busy getting killed and getting brought back to life, the Umojan factories were producing these fighters.

These Warden starfighters, which Jean lazily named F-1, were flatter than vikings and wraiths. They were sharper in the front, which allowed them to minimize the air resistance in a combat situation with atmosphere. Its most impressive feature was its agility. The thing with human pilots was that they could only handle so much pressure. Bring the starfighter to the fastest speed it could possibly get without falling apart, and the pilot would be dead long before the enemy.

Plus, the top speed of starfighters was way beyond what human pilots could handle. Any human being, no matter how experienced they were or how much stimpack they took, would likely smash their ship into things like friendly fighters or asteroids on the way to the battlefield.

Warden AIs didn't have the same concerns. Their AI reflexes and advanced sensors allowed them to handle the speed of the starfighters and their lack of body meant they could handle the pressure.

Each F-1 starfighter was equipped with a pair of laser batteries on the wings and a dozen torpedoes in its hull that could be launched from the bottom of the ship. An energy core was in the center of the fighter and powered the entire vessel.

F-1 fighters didn't have much armor. Too much armor meant too much weight, which meant less agility. In most cases, the F-1 fighters wouldn't get shot by anything like a missile or a torpedo. Too many laser shots could be a problem, but once again that shouldn't happen to Warden AIs. A few stray shots could be deflected by the F-1 fighters' basic armor.

This wasn't ideal, but Jean wanted a swarm of quick fighters that could be mass produced with a single command and would rip apart any foe in an endless wave of attack. She wasn't exactly looking for fighters that could take a Yamato round to the face and shrug it off.

These five hundred F-1 starfighters charged out of the Umojan hangars like lightning. With a speed much faster than normal vikings and wraiths, the F-1, despite their later start, reached the Dominion Fleet much quicker.

"Terminate all hostile terran targets."

A Warden Command AI embedded in one of the F-1 shells quietly ordered.

The first enemy these fighters faced was what was left of the Dominion fighter squadron. These fighters have went through both the Hyperion batteries and the Umojan firing. The fighters were damaged, out of supply, and scattered, and the pilots were exhausted.

Still, at a single command from Admiral Princeton, four hundred or so fighters still formed a formation inside the firing range of the Dominion battlecruiser guns. The Umojans did massive losses to the attacking Dominion fighters just a while ago, and now the admiral wanted to return the favor. If these filthy Umojans wanted to use their fighters to take the field, they needed to charge into a sea of guns. Even the high-tech Umojans didn't have what it takes to survive...right?

The Umojans didn't, but the Wardens did.

F-1 fighters spread out in the ideal formation. As soon as they got close, the experienced Dominion pilots and crew members realized something was wrong. The Umojan starfighters were much quicker than they were supposed to be.

"These pilots must be taking stimpack. Don't worry, they can't last long." Admiral Princeton had no choice to speak up. Just like his men, he noticed the issue, but he knew what was important now was to give his men some confidence. An army without confidence could never be victorious. "Open fire when ready."

In less than ten seconds, the five hundred Warden starfighters dove into the Dominion web of death.

"Open fire!"

All the laser batteries, torpedoes, and missiles were launched. Vikings remained in one position and tried to function as flying turrets. Wraiths, much faster, fired a round before engaging full thrusters in an attempt to pursue the Warden ships.

It turned out badly for the red terran.

The Wardens unloaded a full round of torpedoes, which automatically locked on to all the hostile fighters. The Warden tactical network meant in one split second, the ships' sensors could identify the target, lock the missile onto the target, decide if a second torpedo was needed to finish the kill, and upload this information to the Warden data net. This prevented overkill.

Following a series of explosions, nearly a hundred Dominion fighters disappeared from the Dominion arsenal forever.

Admiral Princeton frowned. Something was definitely fishy. If the abnormal speed could be explained by stimpack and a few maniac pilots, there was no way a few suicidal pilots could wipe out more than one fifth of the Dominion ship count in the first round. Usually, the initial round of missiles could only wipe out a handful of fighters in the front, and the rest of the ships from both sides would spend their time trying to chase down each other. Something like this was rare.

Now he only hoped the Dominion missiles could do a similar thing.

Because most of the Dominion fighters were stationary, they were hit first despite the fact that they shot first. The F-1 fighters, on the other hand, continued flying with full speed. Torpedoes and missiles, locked onto the fighters, chased after.

The speed of the Warden ships allowed them to maintain a safe distance from the flying missiles. This was something human fighters could never accomplish.

Simultaneously, all the fighters in the back suddenly turned their laser batteries around. The Warden AIs dispatched a portion of their CPU to control the guns, which started unloading on the flying missiles.

It was an easy process. Advanced targeting system from the AIs and the inability to dodge of the missiles quickly spelled an end to that round of projectiles. Only three Warden fighters were caught in the explosions.

All the while, Dominion battlecruisers continued to unload on the fighters. Orange lasers painted a beautiful trial after the fighter horde. One or two of them hit the target and destroyed it, but most of them were deflected or dodged.

The F-1 fighters turned back around. This time they targeted the battlecruisers.

The run led to the death of 12 F-1 starfighters and the destruction of 35 laser batteries. One of the battlecruisers took a series of torpedoes in the bridge. The shield and the armor gave out, and Admiral Princeton found himself with a maimed ship that had pretty much no ability to move or defend itself.

"Target Easy neutralized. Lower its targeting priority." The Warden Command AI keenly noticed that. That maimed battlecruiser was pretty much a floating prison for the Dominion personnel onboard. It was no longer a threat, at least for the moment. The Command AI decided to prioritize in taking out the remaining resistance before returning to clean up the last survivors. Target Easy was the temporary Warden identification tag for the maimed battlecruiser.

Inside the bridge, Dominion officers started panicking. They were proud, but they weren't blind.

"Admiral Princeton! Our ships are ripped apart! Our batteries are picked off! we need to pull back!"

Princeton's eyes narrowed. Before he came here, he made a personal promise to Emperor Mengsk that he would terminate the Queen of Blades. While promising him a bright career, Mengsk also not so subtly warned of the consequence of failure. Initially, Princeton wasn't too bothered. With all the advantages, including a much superior fleet and agents among the enemies, no one with any intelligence would fail. But now…

He shuddered to think of what would happen if he returned a failure. Mengsk wouldn't hesitate to use him as an example for other Dominion generals.

"Direct all fighters toward the Hyperion. Focus fire on the bridge and take it out at all cost!"

"But sir...we have no way of pulling our fighters back after the hit!" Facing the rapid Umojan fighters, sending the fighters out of battlecruiser cover was suicide. "They have already lost half their numbers inside our own guns! If they get out..."

"This is an order!" Princeton's voice turned dangerously low as two of his personal guards took a step forward. "Comply. Disobedience is punishable by death."

The officer remained silent for a second before delivering the order.

The Dominion pilots lucky enough to still be alive received the order. Some remained silent while others raged, but all obeyed. Fight, and they would die an honorable death. Their family would be treated with respect. Flee, and there was no way they could escape this place with a fighter without any warping capabilities. They would die anyways, and their family would live in disgrace for an eternity.

They darted toward the Hyperion, fully expecting to be gunned down immediately.

To their surprise, the Warden starfighters remained fighting the Dominion battlecruisers. A few vikings got destroyed, but most wraiths and vikings survived.

Admiral Princeton's eyes widened with surprise and excitement. He sent the fighters out as a last ditch effort, and frankly speaking he was surprised it might work. "Unload everything at the Umojans! Keep them occupied!"

The battlecruisers continued firing. Even the Yamato Cannons were charged up. The Warden units got out of the way before the cannon rounds could even be sent out, but they were held back nonetheless.

When the Dominion fighters were halfway between the Dominion ships and the Hyperion, the Raider scanners finally picked them up.

"Commander Cassidy, this is Captain Horner! A squad of Dominion wraiths is coming our way! We need immediate assistance!"

The Hyperion was practically defenseless. After the sabotage, the Dominion fighters, and the Dominion Minotaur, the Hyperion's guns and armor were practically gone. The frontal armor that protected the bridge was practically gone.

The last card in Captain Horner's sleeves was a defensive matrix that just came back online a few minutes ago. If the Umojans failed to reinforce in time, that might be his last saving grace.

"Affirmative. Sending our fighters now!" Jean replied immediately. A total of fifty F-1 fighters deviated from their previous attack course and speeded toward the Hyperion.

Seeing the pursuers, the Dominion moved as quickly as possible. They had no intention to stand and fight. These men have seen what the "Umojan" ships were capable of, and they knew they would die anyways. Instead of dying to take down a handful of these fighters and kill the pilots inside, it was wiser to die after wiping out the command structure of the infamous Raynor's Raiders.

"Come on…" Inside the Dominion lines, one of the wraith pilots whispered as he closed in on the Hyperion. A second later, his ship exploded in a wave of lasers.

The Warden ships have already caught up.


	107. Chapter 107

It was a slaughter. Half the Dominion flank collapsed in half a minute.

The rest of the Dominion didn't even try to stand and fight. Instead, they sent out a round of missiles and torpedoes at the bridge.

A few F-1 fighters charged forward and shot the torpedoes and missiles out in midair. Others even charged into the projectiles, destroying them via self-sacrifice. Yet, there were still several dozen missiles trained on the bridge, and the bridge's armor wasn't even enough to withstand half those missiles.

"Matt…" Raynor, still in the bridge, whispered slowly.

The missiles were about to hit their target.

"Defensive matrix now!" Horner suddenly screamed. Immediately, the crew members went into action. The green layer of safety formed around the Hyperion. All the missiles slammed into the shield and exploded.

When the shield disintegrated three seconds later from a lack of energy, the bridge was unharmed.

And then everything changed.

Out of nowhere, a missile slammed into the now vulnerable bridge.

If it was some sort of romance novel, Kerrigan would jump in this second and freeze the missile or somehow dispose of it. Afterwards, Raynor and Kerrigan would go to some distant planet and live off their lives happily ever after.

This wasn't that kind of novel.

Before either Raynor or Horner could say or do anything, the missile exploded.

The entire bridge was torn apart. The armor and the glass that separated the bridge and space were destroyed, and pieces of wreckage and body floated out of the opening.

Unfortunately, neither Raynor nor Horner would live to see that.

The explosion instantly killed Captain Matt Horner. The man's refusal to wear armor inside the bridge rendered him completely defenseless against the explosion and the shrapnel. When the pieces of metal did their job, the young man was no more than several pieces of bleeding corpse.

The commander of the Raiders was no better. A piece of shrapnel pierced his glass helmet and penetrated his skull. His deep history with the Queen of Blades didn't help him one bit.

Outside, the F-1 fighters have terminated the last of the hostile fighters, but the pilots died with satisfaction in their eyes. Their death was worth it. James Raynor was dead. As his killer, these pilots would receive all the honor in the world. Most likely, their families were destined for a life of comfort. Mengsk wouldn't shy away from showing his gratitude.

The Hyperion shook violently. Having lost its bridge, it was falling out of control. Eventually, its auto-pilot system kicked in and managed to stop the ship still. A few officers further inside the ship who realized what happened shut the blast door that led the bridge to the rest of the ship, keeping whatever oxygen the Hyperion had inside the vessel.

The Hyperion would live on, but both its owner and its commander was dead.

This marked the end of Jim Raynor.

* * *

Inside her flagship, Jean glanced down on an electronic pad on her left arm before tapping something.

She did it.

She ordered the death of James Raynor, Matt Horner, and most of the Raider command structure.

Why?

Simple. Raynor was starting to do more harm than good.

From the memory she was given, Jean knew at this point, after saving the love of his life, Raynor was ready to abandon this sector and retreat to a distant planet with Kerrigan. Sure, this was good for the couple and it would make a cute love story, but what about Jean's mission? She launched war on the Dominion for Kerrigan, and instead of forging an alliance with her and retaking the Swarm, Kerrigan just wanted to retire?

There was no way Jean could let that happen.

In the original history, Kerrigan was hell-bent on returning to the form of the Queen of Blades and was willing to ignore her guilt to rebuild the Swarm because she thought the Dominion killed Raynor, and she wanted to get revenge on Mengsk. This hatred was enough to wipe out any fear of the atrocities the Queen of Blades might bring. Unfortunately, in this scenario, the Dominion Fleet was rather uncontrollable, and they might kill both Raynor and Kerrigan, which Jean couldn't allow.

She was forced to take matters into her own hands. She allowed the Dominion fighters to survive long enough to engage the Hyperion on purpose. This acted as a cover-up for the missile that actually delivered the kill.

Now everyone would think one of the Dominion fighters fired the shot that killed Raynor. No one would know it actually came from an F-1 Warden fighter.

With Raynor dead and her Swarm lost and scattered, Kerrigan would need an ally to get her vengeance, and what was a better ally than Jean? She has a fleet. She has an army. She was against the Dominion and she was an old friend of Raynor. It would be almost natural for Kerrigan and Jean to team up and take down their common enemy.

It was part of Jean's plan all along. If she wanted to save Raynor, she would've brought half the Umojan Fleet. She brought a relatively small armada with her for a reason.

The rest of the Dominion Fleet warped away. As they left, Admiral Princeton's lips were curving upwards. Losing a few battlecruisers and having most of his ships maimed was a problem, but he was sure Mengsk would be more than happy to trade those ships for Raynor and possibly even Kerrigan. Unlike General Warfield, Admiral Princeton didn't give a damn about his men. He would gladly trade them for his own rise to power.

With the enemies gone, the Umojan Fleet started cleaning up the mess. The Dominion battlecruisers the F-1 fighters maimed sent out pleas for surrender. The crew members onboard were abandoned and trapped with no way out. Resist, and they would die while wasting a few Umojan missiles. Some remained blindly loyal to the Dominion, but those with the will to live overpower the stubborn.

Jean accepted the surrender and sent three cruisers to take over the ships and deal with the prisoners. By deal, she meant taking them captive and bringing them back to Umoja. While the idea of massacring defenseless prisoners was highly tempting, taking some prisoners could convince the Dominion foes in the future to surrender rather than fight to the death. The potential material gain was worth the trouble.

Just like she expected, Kerrigan came to her.

The former Queen of Blade's ghost suit was covered with the blood of the Dominion personnel unfortunate enough to stand in her way. From what Jean heard, Kerrigan was working on a boarding party when the missile killed Raynor. Sensing something was wrong, Kerrigan went full in and literally ripped the Dominion soldiers apart limb by limb.

"Kerrigan." Jean waved her arm, and all the Umojans left the bridge, leaving just thirty or so Warden units. Kerrigan glanced at the Warden ghosts and marines and didn't feel the curiosity to ask about them.

She has been with Raynor since the very beginning. When Mengsk was still a rebel leader hell-bent on taking down the corrupt Terran Confederacy, she and Raynor stood together and fought side by side under Mengsk. When she was betrayed by Mengsk to the zerg, Raynor, despite knowing Mengsk has already become one of the most powerful figures in the sector, didn't hesitate to abandon the possible power and luxury and turned against Mengsk.

It was touching, especially considering how much trouble and danger Raynor went through to save Kerrigan from the zerg. Kerrigan wasn't the crying type, and her way of dealing with the sorrow was by taking it out on the enemy.

"Commander Cassidy." Kerrigan tried to be as calm as possible. She knew the Umojans did their job as an ally. They came to Raynor's aid when he needed them, and they tried their best to take down the Dominion. Several elite Umojan fighters, no doubt under some strict orders, even sacrificed themselves to block some of the missiles. Obviously, they failed in their mission, but they have done all they could. Blaming them for Raynor's death was stupid and irresponsible.

"Is Raynor…" Jean asked, faking it.

"Yes. Jim...Jim's gone." Kerrigan lowered her head for a second before looking up again with renewed determination. "Mengsk killed him, and I want to make him pay for it. But I don't have the army."

Jean sighed. "I'm sorry for what happened to commander Raynor, but my loyalty lies with the Umojan Protectorate. I have a responsibility to my people. I can't risk putting them in danger to launch a full invasion on the Terran Dominion. I'm sorry. We just don't have the forces."

In reality, if Jean went all in, with the Umojans, the Wardens, the Purifiers, probably the mercenaries considering Horner's dead, and possibly the Tal'darim, the Dominion would be in some real danger. But the Dominion was just a small problem. Amon was the real foe, and Jean needed the Swarm on her side against the dark god.

Kerrigan's mouth hung open. The Queen of Blades has never felt so vulnerable before. When she was the Queen of Blades, power was rarely a problem. The Dominion was only able to survive because she wanted to troll Mengsk a bit. But now…

"I can work with you…"

"She doesn't need you."

Kerrigan turned around and saw a figure emerging from the shadows. It was a female psionic user in some sort of modified ghost armor. Usually a ghost couldn't hide from her senses, but she was exhausted and in pain and her power was crippled.

Plus, the ghost was strong. Really strong. She also felt familiar. It took Kerrigan a few seconds before realizing she has met the ghost before. While she assaulted the capital of the Moebius Foundation, _with the full might of the Swarm behind her back_ , she faced an odd ghost who managed to stand toe to toe with her. She eventually maimed the ghost, but the terran came in and saved her.

Kerrigan didn't know what was the backstory behind this ghost, but she did know this ghost was not weaker than she was at the moment. In other words, this Commander Cassidy didn't need to make a move on the Dominion for her allegiance.

She didn't know what to say.

Suddenly, Jean tapped her lips.

"You don't have an army, but the Queen of Blades did."

Kerrigan immediately understood what the girl said, but she was hesitant in responding.

"I'm not the Queen of Blades. Not anymore."

Jean looked into her eyes.

"The Queen of Blades was strong. Influential. Powerful. When you led the Swarm, Mengsk didn't lay a finger on Raynor. After you were returned to your human state, this happened."

"I killed billions as the Queen of Blades! Jim fought to bring me back! He even died for it!" Kerrigan sighed. "He wouldn't want that."

What Raynor wants is irrelevant. Jean tilted her head. "Then what? What can you do without an army? Assassinate Mengsk by yourself? You're good, but even the Queen of Blades can't take on the entire Korhal Defense Fleet. A round of bombardment can wipe you off the face of the sector."

"Without the Swarm, if you want to live, your only choice will be to leave and hide. Any act of vengeance will lead to your demise."

Kerrigan suddenly leaped forward. Her psionic blade flew into her grip and was ignited, and it was placed next to Jean's neck. Almost the moment that happened, Viper's sniper rifle appeared in her hand and was trained on Kerrigan's skull, but Jean stopped her with a signal.

"You are trying to turn me back into the Queen of Blades!" Kerrigan demanded with a hissing tone. "What do you want?"

Kerrigan was anything but stupid. Sometimes she might make poor decisions due to her emotions, but she wasn't dumb. Jean's actions had an obvious purpose, and it didn't take long for Kerrigan to realize it.

Jean replied in a single sentence.

"The entire Swarm is a better ally than a single ghost."

Kerrigan frowned, surprised at how blunt Jean was. Suddenly, with abnormal speed, Jean grabbed onto Kerrigan's arm that held the psionic blade and pushed it away, moving the blade away from her neck. Kerrigan tried to exert some strength, just to keep the blade in place, and she was surprised to see she couldn't do it. The seemingly vulnerable Umojan commander was much stronger than she looked.

But Kerrigan didn't continue to question Jean. The answer she gave was already enough. It was reasonable from the point of view of her as an Umojan commander to secure a strong ally, and Kerrigan was willing to do anything she could to avenge Raynor.

It was reasonable.

Plus, she has made up her mind. Raynor was dead, and someone needed to pay for it.

With the backing of the Umojans, she would return to the Swarm and regain control. People would die, good people, but all she could do was minimize the number of civilian casualties.

She finally nodded.

"Then we have a deal."


	108. Chapter 108

Kerrigan left with a battlecruiser full of Warden units. The entire ship was powered by Warden AIs. With one hundred F-1 fighters and a small army of Warden ground units, this one battlecruiser was enough to take on a small brood. It was hardly a match for the full might of the Swarm, but the Wardens weren't there to fight a war.

Their job was to escort Kerrigan to all the scattered broods and aid her, if necessary, back to the seat of the leader of the entire Swarm. There might be some combat, but unless things went terribly wrong, there shouldn't be something that battlecruiser couldn't handle.

After departing with Kerrigan, Jean returned to Umoja. The Umojan fleet she brought with her was returned to a military port, where the ships would be examined and made ready for future combat. After inspecting the Warden factories and other aspects of the Protectorate to make sure everything was going at full efficiency, Jean met briefly with Stukov.

The infested terran promised the Umojan high command was still under infestor control. As Jean was busy dealing with the Dominion and Raynor, Stukov's infested army has already taken over the majority of the Kel-Morian Combine. The Combine, made up of mostly pirates and thugs, lacked a central command needed to contain the infestation. Loose warlords, with their smaller ships and more unorganized armies, were easily wiped out. Their ruthlessness might be deadly against human allies, but comparing the will to fight with mindless infested terran...not the best idea.

When the killed mercenaries rose again as infested, the Combine's defenses fell one by one. Planet after planet was lost. The civilian population, as well as the corpses of the combatants, rose again as zerg fighters.

Eventually, the rest of the warlords combined their ships into the Kel-Morian fleet, which, as soon as it was created, was busy flying all over the Combine's territory to put down the fire as much as they could.

At first, the infested didn't have the guns to shoot down the battlecruisers, but things changed when Stukov set up a trap.

The former UED general went through a lot of trouble and secretly infested hundreds of mercenaries that were on a infested cleansing mission. When these unsuspecting mercenaries returned to their ship, the lack of rules and regulations in the Kel-Morian fleet meant they didn't need to go through a medical checkup. As they returned to their quarters, the zerg virus on them was spread onto the healthy soldiers around them.

In just days, the entire ship has fallen. The exchange of personnel between the different ships in the fleet quickly brought the contamination to whatever capital ships the Kel-Morians had.

Finally, when the trap was sprung, half the Kel-Morian fleet fell immediately. The rest collapsed soon. Eventually the Kel-Morian fleet, or what was left of it, managed to regain control because the infested weren't able to move from ship to ship after being exposed and abuse the initial advantage, but during the process the Kel-Morians were forced to blast fully infested battlecruisers from their own side out of the sky simply because they didn't have the manpower to take back those infested filled vessels.

As a result, the Kel-Morian fleet was maimed. If it couldn't hold back the infestation with its full power, there was nothing it could do now.

Stukov's army grew every second.

Thankfully, Jean didn't see any sign of disobedience from Stukov. If anything, the infested general seemed taken back by the power he sensed radiating from Jean.

At the end of the day, Jean stood inside the Umojan fortress and looked out the window at the city below. Her brain turned.

All the pieces were coming together. Stukov. Kerrigan. According to Umojan spies Jean deployed throughout the sector after she took power, Valerian Mengsk has brought his ship to a planet where the governor sympathized more with him over his father. There, he was raising an army, apparently to take down his father. Jean has established some basic contact with him and made a deal with him to help him take the throne of the Dominion in exchange for his promise to stand by her in the future.

Eventually, the Dominion would be turned to his side. So would the Swarm. The Moebius Foundation was much weaker than it was in the original history...then again, she needed to try to make them even weaker. Jean tapped her comm and called Delta, who quickly sent out multiple fleets to go across the sector. Their job was to locate and terminate any Moebius entity they come across.

There was just one final piece. Wait. Make that two.

She stood up, said something into her comm to Delta, and walked out of the room. Four Warden ghosts surrounded her. They didn't look like much, but she had an army of Warden units in her watch. After Zerus, she wasn't exactly a vulnerable human being either. Plus, if things went right, she shouldn't be in any danger.

* * *

A Purifier mothership jumped in outside Slayn.

"Commander, our observers have confirmed the Tal'darim's words."

Ten or so hours ago, after finishing her work on Umoja, Jean got on a Purifier mothership and moved into Tal'darim airspace. Of course, she wasn't careless enough to just jump onto Slayn. Instead, she established communication with Nyon first.

Nyon's first line was something Jean didn't expect.

"Jean. I have some good news...well, at least good news for me."

"What is it?"

Nyon smirked.

"You are in the presence of the Highlord of the Tal'darim."

If Jean wasn't s "Jean", she would've been taken back by surprise, but being herself, she merely nodded.

"Impressive."

Nyon seemed slightly disappointed to see the calmness on Jean's face. "We should meet face to face to discuss our plans for the future. There is no need to be covert anymore. Come to Slayn."

Jean's eyes twitched as Nyon turned off his comm.

Of course, Jean wasn't stupid enough to believe in anything she was told. She first sent in a web of observers. These observers scouted all across the planet of Slayn. The strange lack of security on the planet made the job of these observers so much easier.

The observers relayed what they saw back to Jean. Slayn was much emptier than before. Pieces of wreckage of ships and armors could be seen in not just the Pit of Ascension but also all throughout the planet. Wounded Tal'darim warriors were inspected. Those maimed were put into vanguards or slayers while the others inhaled terrazine to heal their wounds. Everything screamed "military takeover".

That thought was confirmed when one of the observers saw Nyon sitting in the throne of the Highlord. Groups of Ascendants stood around him in obedience. Neither Ma'lash nor the other high ranking ascendants Jean knew by knowledge was present.

After making sure it was safe, Jean jumped in. She was immediately noticed and welcomed.

"Commander, a Tal'darim vessel is approaching the ship. It's a shuttle."

Jean glanced at the Purifier pilot that warned her. The mothership, as well as every Purifier on it, belonged to Delta, who lent them to Jean after she asked for it. They served her because Delta ordered so.

"Let it though."

The Tal'darim shuttle navigated across the mothership's batteries, moved past the opening in the mothership's plasma shield, and entered the hangar. Jean was already there to meet it.

The door opened, and four Tal'darim supplicant zealots walked out. Seeing the foreign Purifiers, they didn't show any aggression. They simply stood to the two sides of the door. The vigilant glances they had when they looked around the hangar told everyone if this situation turned out to be some sort of trap, they wouldn't hesitate to strike.

Behind Jean, a line of legionnaires did a similar thing. Their AIs received orders from Delta to protect Jean at all cost.

Jean waited patiently when, finally, a tall figure in bright crimson armor stepped out.

"Jean."

"Highlord Nyon." Jean smiled. It was a signal of peace and friendliness. "I have to admit, I am impressed. I didn't think you would be able to take down Ma'lash, Guraj, and Zenish."

Nyon returned with an amused sound. It was the best he could do that looked like a smile. Though it still made him sound snarky, just the fact that he, a high ranking Tal'darim, was willing to do this showed his respect for Jean.

"I learned from the best." Nyon returned compliment with compliment. "Now, I would like to tell you more about how I did it, but I assume you are here for more important affairs."

"Actually," Jean tilted her head. "Tell me what happened. I will enjoy hearing it."

Jean wouldn't enjoy listening to a story, but she keenly recognized that the more she could learn about Nyon, especially about how he rose to power, the more she could use to manipulate and control him.

The now Highlord had no objections. He was more than happy to brag about his accomplishments. And so, as Nyon and Jean made their way into the giant bridge of the mothership, Nyon started talking.

* * *

After returning from Swarm airspace, the Tal'darim society, having taken heavy losses, gradually grew in discontent against Ma'lash. While most of them were willing to die for their god, the battle was no doubt a defeat. The Forged was forced to flee. As the commander of the battle, Ma'lash was facing quite the criticism.

After executing an ascendant for a random reason to show both the common Tal'darim and the ascendants who was boss, Ma'lash was barely able to retain control. His giant supplicant army and his place as the Highlord made him invulnerable to resent on the most basic level.

But things changed when a certain ascendant challenged Ma'lash in a Rak'Shir duel.

"Highlord Ma'lash. As the First Ascendant, I challenge you to a dual. May only the strongest lead the Tal'darim! You, Ma'lash, have proven to be not strong enough."

"It's time for you to die."

"What?" Ma'lash was honestly surprised. He expected to be challenged, but he didn't expect to be challenged by this exact ascendant. "Guraj? Why?"

Guraj started as the Second Ascendant, but when First Ascendant Nuroka was abandoned by Ma'lash on Sigma Quadrant and killed by the Swarm, she automatically rose to the rank of the First Ascendant.

Only the First Ascendant could challenge the Highlord, and now she was the only one with that right.

But Guraj has been an ally of Ma'lash since the dawn of time. She and Ma'lash teamed up against the alliance between Nuroka and Zenish. In the ideal case, they would take out Nuroka, and Guraj would rise one step and Ma'lash would keep his throne. This was exactly what happened, and Ma'lash expected Guraj to remain loyal to him.

Of course, in the Tal'darim world, loyalty was only relatively. It was more like Ma'lash expected Guraj to remain loyal to him until she could muster up an army large enough to challenge him.

As far as Ma'lash was concerned, Guraj didn't have that army, at least not now.

"Fool!" His confusion led to fear, which led to anger. He closed his grip, and rogue psionic flares erupted around him, showing his strength. "I will rip you apart limb by limb! You will die screaming! And so will those who follow you!" He scanned the supplicants behind Guraj threateningly. The warriors were unfazed.

Guraj smirked and stepped back.

In the shadows, Nyon smiled.

* * *

On the next day, in the Pit of Ascension, Ma'lash confronted Guraj. Both had thousands of supplicants behind them. Both were armed and ready.

"You fool! Your fate is sealed the moment you said those words to me…" Before Ma'lash could finish, Guraj leaped forward with her double blades and started slashing down on him. He was forced to retaliate.

Seeing the zealousness of their leaders, supplicants from both sides clashed as well. Blades clashed with opposing blades and plasma shields. Every second, several of the supplicants would scream and die.

After the first contact, Ma'lash obviously had an upper hand. After the initial frenzy, Guraj was starting to lose ground. Across the field, Ma'lash's supplicants, with the advantage in numbers, was starting to circle around and overwhelm those loyal to Guraj.

But Ma'lash wasn't impressed. Unless Guraj was high on terrazine when she declared war on Ma'lash, she must have some sort of trick up her armored sleeves.

His worst fear became reality when all of a sudden, another wave of elite Tal'darim charged into the field. Their leader was Second Ascendant Zenish.

"I swear to fight for First Ascendant Guraj! Ma'lash isn't worthy to lead the Tal'darim!"


	109. Chapter 109

The new wave of Tal'darim immediately changed the situation. Zenish's supplicants fought side by side with Guraj's warriors and started overwhelming those of Ma'lash. The Second Ascendant found his way to the duel between the Highlord and the First Ascendant and didn't hesitate to join.

"Zenish!" Ma'lash screamed as he dodged a series of slashes by the lesser Ascendant, only to get kicked in the arm by Guraj. He could take on Guraj alone, but two Ascendants? He wasn't that good. "How dare you? What have you done?"

Ma'lash guessed he shouldn't be surprised. Zenish has supported Nuroka from the very beginning, and Ma'lash himself didn't hesitate to send Zenish's fleet into the most dangerous positions against the Swarm. Zenish certainly held a grudge against the Highlord, and it was more than enough to prompt him to form an alliance with Guraj and try to take him out.

Just like Ma'lash suggested, Zenish didn't answer. He merely glanced at Guraj, who only smirked at Ma'lash. The Second Ascendant merely doubled down on his attacks. Guraj quickly followed suit.

Ma'lash struggled to hold his ground, but three blades were stronger than one. Within seconds, Ma'lash found himself with a deep wound on his chest. One of Guraj's blades managed to navigate its way past Ma'lash's defenses and land on the Highlord's armor.

Across the field, Ma'lash's supplicants were forced back into a defensive formation as they were gradually overwhelmed.

"Uh!" Ma'lash groaned again as Zenish kicked him in the chest and sent him onto the heated floor of the pit. Guraj jumped into the air, with her blades pointing down at Ma'lash, thirsty for the Highlord's blood. Just before the blades landed, however, Ma'lash was able to roll to the side. Guraj crashed onto the floor, drew a wave of sparks, and turned around in an attempt to pursue further.

The Highlord escaped the fate of being severed into multiple pieces, but he was obviously in a terrible spot. His armor was stained with dust. His power was exhausted. His plasma shield was in the margin of on and off. More importantly, two slightly weaker Tal'darim warriors were encroaching with all the fury in the world.

Seeing their master in danger, dozens of Ma'lash's supplicants abandoned their enemies and charged at Guraj and Zenish, against all odds. Unfortunately, they were quickly cut down by Guraj's blades and Zenish's psionic power.

Eventually, as Ma'lash stood up, he found himself staring down at the blades of Guraj and Zenish.

The Tal'darim audience exploded in a wave of chatters. Some of them were surprised and even disappointed. Ma'lash was named "The Blade of Amon" for his skills and ruthlessness in combat. Seeing him fall to challengers so easily was a shock to most. Others used Ma'lash's story to remind themselves of how important it was to have and maintain allies. If Ma'lash had, say, Alarak, as ally, then he would likely be able to hold this ground in this situation and possibly even turn the table around. Unfortunately, he didn't have any significant allies, and now he was outnumbered and beaten down.

Beside Nyon, Alarak frowned. Everything that happened since Guraj challenged Ma'lash yesterday was unexpected. He felt like things were getting out of control, and he didn't like it. Unfortunately, there was very little he could do. Even if he wanted to step in and help Ma'lash, it would be too late.

For the moment, all eyes were trained on Ma'lash, waiting to see how he would respond.

The Highlord didn't disappoint his people.

"So, Guraj. Zenish. At long last, you have finally shown your true self...as traitors." Ma'lash coughed, showing all the top Ascendants how weak and injured he was. "I wonder who else seeks to accelerate my demise and use it to please their new Highlord."

Guraj and Zenish looked at each other in confusion. Ma'lash was...inviting other Ascendants to go against himself?

Among the audience, Ji'nara was moved. She turned to Alarak and Nyon, slightly tempted. "Ascendants. Guraj's victory is imminent. Ma'lash will be dead soon, yet his supplicants will never surrender. They will fight Guraj's supplicants to the death. If we step in now, we can hep Guraj cleanse the rest of Ma'lash forces and preserve her own supplicants. It will be a show of good faith."

Even for Highlords, supplicants were extremely precious. If Ji'nara and her forces could help Guraj lessen her supplicant casualties, the female Ascendant would really appreciate it.

Alarak didn't share his ally's opinion. Something really felt wrong. He was cautious. It was in his veins. Instead of being tempted, he shook his head. Even if he didn't take part, as the Third Ascendant, soon to be Second, he would still be a force to be reckoned with. Guraj wouldn't dare do anything to him. He didn't have the need to step in.

Nyon simply shook his head. Alarak thought he saw some mocking on Nyon's face.

Ji'nara, seeing the lack of action from her two allies, decided to sit back as well.

But not every ascendant was as wise as Alarak. Half a dozen high ranking ascendants joined the battle with their supplicants and swore their allegiance to Guraj. The ascendants themselves, along with their supplicants, immediately started working on Ma'lash's supplicants.

Within minutes, Ma'lash's forces collapsed. Zealots and adepts were dissected. Ascendants were blasted apart. Vanguards and slayers wished they had a little more armor.

Guraj and Zenish exchanged a look. They have been rather conservative at first because they thought Ma'lash might have some sort of trick up his sleeves, judging from how strange his actions were, but now, with Ma'lash's army gone, the fate was already sealed. Even if Ma'lash somehow returned to full health and energy, he would be overwhelmed by the hostile supplicants. A few dozen supplicants could be taken care of by any ascendant. A few thousands...that as whole a different story.

They finally decided to make a move on Ma'lash. The two, still cautious, walked toward the injured Highlord with their blades raised.

Suddenly, Ma'lash spoke again.

"Only eight ascendants? That's a pity."

"You're mad. You must've taken a lot of terrazine before the dual." Guraj retaliated. "It's just a surprise all these terrazine didn't save you from the painful end soon to come." She raised her blades, about to slash done, when she suddenly sensed something.

Turning around, Guraj found herself staring at fifty big blue entities.

Hybrids.

Forty hybrid reavers stood tall. Their entire body radiated raw physical energy. Their claws, already deadly from zerg physical strength and were further enhanced by protoss psionic energy, shined in blue light. Their tentacles flew behind their back.

Nine destroyers and one dominator floated in the air. Their powerful psionic energy made it as casual as standing or walking. Raw psionic energy cracked around them, destroying the space by their side.

The Tal'darim, inside and outside the Pit of Ascension, cried out in absolute shock and disbelief.

"Hybrids!" Guraj immediately knew what Ma'lash was planning, but despite logic telling her so, she couldn't believe it. She turned back to Ma'lash with rage in her eyes. "This is against the creed of the Tal'darim! Amon is at the top of the Chain of Ascension! He is forbidden to intervene the Rak'Shir duels!"

The Rak'Shir duels were created to ensure only the strongest could rule the Tal'darim and serve Amon, but if Amon, the obvious overlord, decided to support someone, then that someone would never be challenged or defeated. It might lead to the weak dominating the top of the chain of ascension. To prevent that, Amon wasn't allowed to intervene in the duels. Even the dark god himself acknowledged that.

But now...hybrids serve Amon and Amon alone. Judging from Ma'lash's response, they were here to help the Highlord defend his throne, but…

Ma'lash smirked.

The hybrids immediately started striking down on all the supplicants except those of Ma'lash. Reaver claws tore open plasma shields while psionic blades and particle disruptors were rather useless. As the reavers charged forward, the rest of Ma'lash's forces assembled and launched a counterattack on their foes.

Zealot after zealot fell. The lower ascendants in the pit were taken by surprise initially, but they quickly reacted. The challengers fell back. All the vanguards and ascendants remained well protected in the back line while the zealots held the hybrids back.

"Take them out! Victory to the Forged!" One of the ascendants commanded. While they did worship Amon and therefore the hybrids, these hybrids were their foe, and the Tal'darim would never go down without a fight. Plus, they were a bit confused right now of the obvious challenge of the traditions by Ma'lash.

The vanguards fired their scatter cannons simultaneously, and in just seconds, the rounds have covered most of the reavers. Unlike psionic blades and particle disruptors, these vanguards did quite the damage. Half a dozen reavers were wounded.

But that was it for the vanguards. Behind the reavers, the nine hybrids destroyers and the single hybrid dominator have gotten closer. The destroyers crushed nine vanguards with raw psionic power, and the dominator rained down a void storm on most of the challenger forces.

Zealots screamed as their shields, armors, and bodies were ripped apart. Slayers' phase armors protected them for a few seconds before being fried. They tried blinking out of trouble, but most blinked out of the void storm, only to land inside other areas that was also covered by the storm. The few slayers that got out of the storm found themselves charged at by dozens of ravers who were pissed off for the wave of vanguard fire.

Adepts' glaive cannons were excellent against zerglings, marines, and zealots, but they did very little against heavily armored hybrids. Their glaive cannons merely left dents on the hybrid carapace while the reavers could reduce the adepts to ashes with a single strike.

The ascendants did their best. Some challenged the reavers while others did their best to take down the dominators, but the difference in power was too great. The ascendants could barely go through the reavers' carapace and the dominators' plasma shield while the dominators could rip the ascendants apart with just some effort.

The ascendant that gave the order focused a mind blast on one of the reavers. The blast tore two tentacles of the hybrid off, but that was it. The hybrid screeched, and the life energy from the Tal'darim warriors killed throughout the pit converged and entered the hybrid, mending its wounds. The ascendant groaned and attempted to strike a second time, but before he could do that, he exploded.

The hybrid dominator turned its attention on the other ascendants...

Under the fire of the hybrid psionic units, the challenger formation collapsed. There were still hundreds of supplicants scattered across the pit, but without the superior numbers, they didn't stand a chance against the hybrids.

Hearing the screams of their supporters, Guraj and Zenish knew they were doomed. But they also knew they had no retreat. If they tried to run, even if they could get out of the pit, they would eventually be hunted down.

But if they could, somehow, bring down Ma'lash…

With a single cry, both ascendants leaped toward Ma'lash with their weapons ignited. But Guraj was horrified to realize she was the only one whose weapons clashed with those of Ma'lash.

Behind her, Zenish collapsed with half of his head gone. Half a second ago, when he leaped into the air, he was suddenly frozen by the hybrid dominator. The dominator had the element of surprise, and even a distance away, it took Zenish a couple seconds to break free.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a couple seconds. As soon as he was frozen, four blood hunters were already on top of him. Their blades were already coming down on him. Zenish managed to route his energy into his shields, which deflected thee of the four scythes, but the last one cut clean through.

Guraj was now alone. Her supplicants were gone. Her supporters were slaughtered. She was fully surrounded by hybrids and Ma'lash's supplicants alike.

* * *

On the outside, the outrage has gradually quieted down. Whether Ma'lash broke the tradition or not, he was still the Highlord, and judging from the result of the Rak'Shir duel, he would remain the Highlord for quite a while. Anyone who rose a question about how the hybrids got involved would no doubt be silenced.

Even Alarak and Ji'nara went silent.

Suddenly, Nyon stood up. He said something into his communication device before turning to Alarak and Ji'nara, who were utterly confused.

"Let the show begin…"


	110. Chapter 110

As soon as Nyon gave the order, a hidden faction of the Tal'darim audience was sprung into action.

A dozen ascendants loyal to Nyon, without a warning, warped away. Seconds later, they appeared inside their own ships in orbit. Some of them were carriers pilots while others controlled destroyers.

Three of the ascendants returned to Nyon's flagship, a giant mothership. The mothership could hold a maximum of hundreds and thousands of Tal'darim. Even normally, the mothership should have tens of thousands of warriors inside.

But today was special. Nyon gave all the crew members the day off to attend the Rak'Shir duel. The warriors didn't suspect anything, but in reality, Nyon quickly replaced these warriors who he couldn't really trust with his own supplicants who would obey his every command.

This was the beginning of the coup.

As soon as all the ascendants were in place, the ships they controlled set sail. Engines were ignited. Weapons and shields were brought online. Under the confused eyes of the other ship pilots inside the Death Fleet, one mothership, three carriers, and six destroyers moved toward the Pit of Ascension.

Most of the Tal'darim were focused on the duel. Whether it was the battle between the Highlord and the two Ascendants below him or the involvement of the hybrids was enough to keep the Tal'darim's eyes glued on the Pit of Ascension.

Of course, the millions of Tal'darim weren't blind. A lot of protoss saw the ship movement, but as confused as they were, they didn't do anything. There were hundreds of capital ships in orbit, but all the ascendant pilots were at Rak'Shir. Their supplicants were left behind to secure the ships, but these supplicants were hardly in a position to make decisions to step in. The most they could do was contact their overlords.

Unfortunately, their overlords were too busy to answer.

Outside the pit, Nyon waved his hand, and his supplicant forces converged and surrounded the field where most of the high ranking ascendants were.

A thousand psionic blades shined in the crimson field.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ji'nara demanded. She was above Nyon, but Nyon didn't give a damn about ranking anymore. He merely smirked and gestured at his own army.

Ji'nara's expression changed as she also summoned her own supplicants. For ascendants of her position, supplicants were in the thousands. The idea of bringing them all with her to view the Rak'Shir was foolish. Zenish was able to step into the duel this quickly with his army because he was prepared to help Guraj even before the dual began. Nyon could do so because this coup was part of his plan and he was ready for it. Ji'nara, a good ascendant who had no plan of stepping out of line, wasn't expecting trouble. She kept her supplicants a short distance away. Now that she needed these warriors here to back her up, she needed time.

A distance away, a supplicant army more than equal to that of Nyon approached, but the next second a swarm of interceptors came down from the sky and overwhelmed the supplicants. Zealots, who made up the bulk of the army, were completely obliterated. Their blades were useless in this situation. Even if they could take on a couple Daelaam zealots or a dozen zerglings and win, there was nothing their melee skills could do against interceptors.

Vanguards faced a similar scenario as they were dissected by the interceptor lasers. Some fired desperately, but their scatter cannons only burned away friendlies and left the interceptors unscathed.

Adepts and slayers were more fortunate. Glaive cannons and particle disruptors were fired into the air and took down dozens of interceptors, but among the swarm of thousands of interceptors, those prizes seemed insignificant. Without further support, these ranged supplicant units collapsed as well.

One of the ascendants fired a psionic orb into the air, but all he got was a participation award as three destroyers turned on their destruction beams on him. His shield disappeared first, and was quickly followed by his body. A couple of other supplicants tried to return to their ships. As they enabled their warping systems, their heads suddenly were separated from their shoulders.

Blood hunters rewarded these quick-thinking pilots by giving them a death by the blades rather than one by orbital bombardment.

Before long, Ji'nara's supplicants were gone.

Among the audience, Ji'nara's eyes widened and she screamed. Her supplicants were the basis of her ascension, and now that they were gone, she was as good as dead. Anyone below her would gladly challenge her. She was about to ignite her blade and try to take Nyon by surprise when Alarak stopped her.

"Fifth Ascendant. I am impressed." He said slowly while secretly trying to contact his pilots. As long as he could delay Nyon for a while, he could have an entire fleet by his back. Then, he would decide if he wanted to talk or to fight.

But Nyon was too smart for that.

"Seize them." He ordered.

All of Nyon's supplicants moved forward. Inside the circle, all the ascendants drew their blades. Most of them brought a handful of supplicants with them just to show their strength, and now these supplicants and ascendants formed up into an army of several hundred.

Alarak was confident he could stand his ground. As soon as reinforcement arrive, he could condemn Nyon as a traitor, which he is, and have him seized and executed. Hell, he might even be able to take a fraction of Nyon's fleet!

Things changed when three destruction beams landed among the ascendants and burnt their way through the defenders. The destroyers maintained their energy output until half the ascendants and supplicants were gone.

The rest stopped themselves from charging. It was a wise decision.

"Fools. I just massacred her forces. What makes you think you have any chance against me?" Nyon smirked. Just because he used his supplicants to surround the ascendants didn't mean he needed the zealots and slayers to do the job. Otherwise what are ships for?

"You have no honor!" Ji'nara screamed. She took the most losses in this exchange. Not only was her supplicants obliterated, she herself was almost roasted by one of the destroyers. She managed to get out of danger's way in time, but two ascendants by her side perished in the flames. She spent a lot of time and resource to acquire these two ascendants fully loyal to her, and the loss was painful.

Nyon smirked. Honor? What is it? Victory was the only thing that mattered. He flipped his blades. "Surrender, or die."

The ascendants looked at each other.

Alarak was the first to lower his weapons. Other ascendants joined him. Ji'nara looked as if she wanted to dissect Nyon alive, but she gave up in the end nonetheless.

"Order your ships to stand down, or I assure you, you will be long dead before your ships arrive."

Nyon pushed on.

The ascendants nodded. No one doubted Nyon's words. The six destroyers just took out half of them in twenty seconds. Knowing Nyon, he probably had a net of observers around the fleet of the ascendants. It would take minutes to move from orbit to the Pit of Ascension. By the time these minutes passed, the destroyers would have enough time to reduce the resistance to ash and destroy the ash.

Meanwhile, inside the pit, the battle was pretty much over. Guraj was beheaded by Ma'lash with a swift strike before losing both arms to a hybrid reaver. Her determination to fight until the end brought one reaver to the grave with her, but that was it.

Saved from destruction, Ma'lash didn't have time to thank the hybrids. Already, several Tal'darim outside the pit that were loyal to him were trying to contact him like crazy. It took Ma'lash a couple seconds to sort through all the distress messages and realize what happened.

"Nyon! What have you done?" If Ma'lash had a mouth, it would be wide open in shock. The Highlord had trouble connecting the quiet, cunning Tal'darim who saved the entire Death Fleet to someone bold enough to stage a coup and try to take the throne without the traditional Rak'Shir duel. Then again, just like Guraj and Zenish, Nyon was an ascendant, and all ascendants yeaned for ascension.

As Highlord, Ma'lash's job was to crush those who sought to challenge him and those who went against the tradition. He would gladly do both by crushing Nyon.

The situation was bad and Nyon came prepared, but Ma'lash was still the Highlord. A single order from him could strip Nyon of most of his fleet and army. Most of the Tal'darim weren't sure what happened and therefore weren't capable of doing anything, but Ma'lash's command could change that. Before long, the entire Tal'darim world would turn against Nyon and his handful of supplicants. The rebels would burn.

"Death Fleet, in the name of the Highlord of the Tal'darim…"

Suddenly, the hybrids started screeching. Both their protoss side and their zerg side warned of imminent danger. Ma'lash frowned before realizing something was darkening the skies. Whatever it was, it blocked out the sun and covered the entire Pit of Ascension with shadows.

Ma'lash looked up.

It was a mothership. A Tal'darim mothership.

He didn't remember dispatching a mothership here. Therefore, the mothership could only belong to one person.

Nyon.

Sensing what was about to happen, Ma'lash tried to manually active his emergency warping system, but just as he did so, four blood hunters emerged from the shadows and slashed down on Ma'lash. Their blades aiming for his chest and his skull.

Ma'lash swore. Two of the blood hunters were caught in mid air by two hybrids and another was intercepted by one of Ma'lash's last ascendants, but the last blood hunter wasn't intimidated. His weapons were still heading straight for Ma'lash. These blood hunters never thought about leaving this pit.

Ma'lash was forced to break his warping process and deal with the blood hunter. He wanted to leave, but he didn't want to leave half his body here either.

By the time the blood hunter was down, the mothership in the air was ready for fire.

"Nyon! Don't you dare…"

"Fire at once." Nyon commanded with accomplishment in his voice.

The mothership's purification beam came out of the bottom of the ship and slammed into the Pit of Ascension. The moment it hit the ground, the beam turned the entire pit from metaphorical hell to actual hell. Everything in its way was melted and reduced into the most basic particles. Hybrids, reavers and destroyers alike, burned. Ma'lash himself didn't stand a chance. He was at the center of the explosion, and he took the full brunt of the blast.

It didn't go well for him. The Highlord died with barely a scream.

What was left of his supplicants, the best of the best who survived all the combat against Guraj and Zenish's forces, disappeared equally quickly.

When the smoke disappeared, the pit of Ascension was reduced to a gaping hole leading to the center of the planet.

The pilot of the mothership did a scan for life signals before contacting Nyon. "My lord, all life signals in the pit are gone. It is confirmed that Ma'lash, along with his supports, is dead."

Inside the field and hearing the report, Nyon gestured for what used to be the Pit of Ascension before turning back to the ascendants, who have realized what Nyon just did.

"Ma'lash is dead, and I am now the Highlord of the Tal'darim! Any questions?"

The supplicants around him waved their blades, telling the ascendants what would happen if they indeed had some questions.

Alarak was the first to kneel. The rest of the ascendants soon followed.

What happened later was easy. As the ascendants surrendered, most of the Tal'darim mass obeyed as well. Some blindly loyal to Ma'lash seeked to avenge his death, but they were quickly rooted out and publicly and brutally executed. Nyon didn't hesitate to use brute force to enhance his control.

It took a few days for all the Tal'darim to calm down and get used to Nyon's command of the Death Fleet as the Highlord. That was when Nyon broke the news that Amon betrayed the Tal'darim, and that he would lead the Tal'darim against Amon.

This created another uproar, but Nyon had a good teacher, and he learned quite a lot from Jean about manipulation. At first, he went to the ascendants and announced the news. Those who were bold enough to choose death over submission were all gone at the pit, and the rest have already surrendered to Nyon as the Highlord. They had little reason to pointlessly throw away their lives for Amon, who has openly interfere into the Tal'darim internal affairs. Plus, most of the upper level Tal'darim weren't as stupid and blindly loyal to Amon as their underlings.

With the ascendants enlisted, Nyon went on to ease the resistance before opening declaring war on Amon. He first asked the ascendants to list out those under their command who were blindly loyal to Amon and who would definitely stand against him and put them into a single fleet. He then sent this fleet on a suicide mission, which failed and killed everyone in the fleet.

With the toughest obstacles gone, Nyon finally announced the news. Resistance was inevitable, but they were weak enough to be put down.

And that was how Fifth Ascendant Nyon jumped to the place of the Highlord of the Tal'darim.


	111. Chapter 111

"I have to admit. You have grown a lot since we first met." Jean concluded as Nyon finished the story.

Back when they first met, Nyon was rather cunning, but he was still limited to the mindset of a Tal'darim ascendant. He never considered the idea of taking the throne with a coup rather than with a traditional duel.

Nyon nodded in agreement.

"You have done your part, and now it's time for me to do mine. The Death Fleet is at your command, Jean. The entire Tal'darim race is willing to strike down anyone you command."

Jean smiled to show her gratitude. Even after all the battles, the Death Fleet still had over eight hundred capital ships. They would be of great use in the oncoming war.

Amon used the Tal'darim has his sharpest blade against the sector, and now this blade has a new owner.

"Prepare the Death Fleet for war, Highlord, because I assure you, war is coming." Jean said before Nyon departed. Now that the Tal'darim front was settled, she could return to Umoja and attend to other business.

* * *

Meanwhile, Delta was sent on a mission of her own.

She piloted her arbiter toward the planet of Aiur.

Jean has always been hesitant in getting in touch with the Daelaam protoss and the Golden Armada. For one thing, she wasn't sure how deep Amon's influence was among the Daelaam protoss. If she made a move too early to warn the Daelaam about Amon and Amon sensed it through the protoss Khala network, then it might prompt him to corrupt the Golden Armada and just wipe the table before Jean was ready.

Plus, the Daelaam were proud, even arrogant. During their golden ages, back during the time of the Protoss Empire, the protoss expanded unopposed in the entire sector. The Great Fleet demolished any foe that might attempt to make a stand. At that time, the protoss saw themselves as children of god and considered themselves superior to all the other races inside the sector. They even established a code to protect those they considered as inferior. After the fall of Aiur, the destruction of the Great Fleet, and the escape to Shakuras, most of the Daelaam protoss tamed their arrogance. Still, it would be the words of a human being against millennials of faith. It was obvious which side would present a stronger argument.

But things have changed. When Jean sent out Delta, the Death Fleet was pretty much under control. The Purifier fleet and the Warden fleet were starting to become a deadly force. The Umojan force was growing every day. The Swarm was rapidly assembling under the Queen of Blades, who killed any broodmother that refused to return to the fold. Dominion Crown Prince Valerian, under the cover of the Umojan Protectorate, was leading a rebel fleet that was growing every day. After news of Raynor's demise was broadcasted throughout the Dominion by Arcturus Mengsk, those who had a grudge against the dictator ran to the obviously wiser prince. To a sense, Valerian Mengsk replaced James Raynor as the beacon of freedom.

Rumor goes Arcturus Mengsk has already sent out his best assassins after his own son.

Jean was ready to warn the Daelaam. Even if, by any chance, Amon sensed it and took over the Daelaam now, she was sure she could handle it. She chose to send Delta because she was a Purifier, and compared to a human being with zerg essence in her or a Tal'darim or a zerg, a Purifier was easier to trust. Granted, most of the protoss still saw the Purifiers as enemies and rogue robots, but most of Jean's allies weren't exactly good guys.

The arbiter approached the planet, but was quickly intercepted by a squad of four Daelaam phoenixes.

While most of the sector was busying beating Kerrigan, the Daelaam protoss seized this opportunity to bring the entire Golden Armada and the Nerazim Fleet to the lost planet of Aiur. Back during the Brood War, Aiur, as the homeworld of the protoss, was under attack by the brunt of the Brood. The Overmind directed billions and billions of zerg onto the beautiful planet. This ridiculous amount of zerg punched through the majority of the protoss fleet and overwhelmed the protoss defenders. When the protoss hero Tassadar killed the Overmind with kamikaze, most of those zerg were no longer under control and went rogue. Strangely, instead of killing each other to the last zerg standing, most of those zerg simply stood by and waited.

The Daelaam came down from the sky with all the fury in the world. On the protoss side, every Daelaam protoss wanted to retake their homeworld. Warriors practiced their skills. Phase smiths worked double time to build more powerful weapons of war. Striders and vessels that were designed to kill most efficiently were mass produced. The protoss came prepared.

The feral zerg, on the other hand, were leaderless. They had overwhelming numbers, but that was pretty much all they had. While the rest of the sector was powered by threats from all fronts and worked their ass off to build more ships and develop more deadly technologies, the feral zerg stayed where they were for four full years.

As a result, they were slaughtered the moment the Golden Armada opened fire.

1600 protoss ships slammed down on the zerg. The feral flyers in orbit were literally melted. Leviathans and Behemoths(capital zerg transport vessels) exploded into a million pieces. Devourers and guardians were deadly weapons during the brood war, but now, four years later?

Heavily armored devourers were picked apart by agile phoenixes and scouts. These ships were piloted by warriors who spent their days fighting the enemies of the Daelaam. After spending years to deal with corruptors and brood lords, the Daelaam ships laughed upon the outdated feral units. Mutalisks were no match for the horde of interceptors. Scourges tried their best, but their attacks were uncoordinated and easily deflected. The Golden Armada lost a handful of interceptors and ships, whose pilots warped away to safety, and took down a hundred times the scourges.

The orbital defenses collapsed within an hour. The zerg fleet, strong enough to push the Protoss Empire to its destruction, crumbled under the newer, stronger Daelaam Golden Armada.

Falling behind has its toll. Falling behind in somewhere as dangerous as the Korpuru Sector for four years? It's enough to turn someone from a victor to a loser.

With the sky cleared, the Golden Armada proceeded to the surface. There were too many zerg, and trading precious protoss warriors with them was stupid, so Hierarch Artanis ordered the Golden Armada and the Nerazim Fleet to plow over most of the zerg count before deploying the warp prisms and warping in ground units.

For three days, fire and death rained down from above. Observers, completely unopposed in the skies, covered the entire planet and delivered the location of every single zerg unit on the ground to the protoss pilots in the air. All the pilots had to do was bring their ships to a piece of marked area and then pull the trigger.

Twenty hydralisks? What the hell. Blast them. Ultralisk? Here is a three orbital strike combo. Enjoy. Lurkers? Get a destroyer over there. Swarm queen? Don't see them around anymore. Phoenix, chase them down and deal with them. A horde of zerglings? Send in a dark templar.

The greatest zerg casualty was when one of the motherships purified a province which held one tenth of the entire zerg population on the planet. When the light beam disappeared, even the corpses were reduced to ash.

Finally, with minimal losses, Aiur was back in protoss hands once again.

Hierarch Artanis didn't hesitate to move most of the infrastructures back to Aiur from Shakuras. He also welcomed the Nerazim back to Aiur. Matriarch Vorazun of the Nerazim protoss was still considering that offer.

That being said, Artanis was aware the final victory was still a distance away, and the Golden Armada wasn't invincible in the sector. He deployed countless patrols across the planet and did his best to bring the industries back online so they could produce military vessels and weapons as soon as possible.

Back to the situation.

"I demand to see Hierarch Artanis." Delta established communication with the phoenixes. The Purifier data net contained protoss language.

"State your identity." One of the pilots demanded. She could see Delta through the transmission, but she thought she saw a protoss wearing some sort of weird armor rather than a mechanical protoss. She was relatively young, only one hundred years old or so. The Purifier rebellion was way before her time.

"I'm with the Purifiers."

"Purifiers?" The four pilots immediately readied their weapon system. They have never experienced the rebellion itself, but they did learn about it from the teaching of other protoss, who labeled the Purifier protoss as deadly robots hell bent on destroying the protoss race rather than proud templars in metal bodies who were tired of being treated as expendable weapons.

Delta saw their alertness.

"I am here for peace. I have an important affair to discuss with your leader."

The pilots remained silent for a few seconds, probably talking to their superior officers, before returning to Delta.

"Follow me, Purifier."

The four phoenixes guided the arbiter to one of the starports. Putting her ship in auto-pilot in the air, Delta warped out of the ship and onto the ground.

She was welcomed by a protoss executor, followed by two high templars and two lines of zealots.

"Purifier, follow us." Selendis declared. Both her and the Daelaam behind her were on high alert, ready to draw their weapons. The two high templars had two feedbacks locked and loaded.

Delta followed Selendis.

The party walked past fields and fields of construction sites, where probes were setting up pylons and power fields, and assembling other structures. Delta saw a dozen photon cannons being assembled with lightning speed. Within an hour, they could be thrown into battle. Dozens of zealots were sparring with each other or meditating.

Finally, the party walked into a heavily guarded building. The security was heavier and heavier, and finally, Delta walked into a meeting room, where she saw Hierarch Artanis for the first time.

Artanis was young, at least by protoss standards. At 262 years old, he was certainly not the most experienced protoss in the Daelaam world. However, he was open-minded, and the protoss has already paid a heavy price due to the stubbornness of older members of the old High Council.

Now, the open-minded protoss leader was looking at Delta, intrigued.

"Welcome, Purifier." Artanis tilted his head. "Might I ask of your origins?"

No wonder Artanis was curious. The Purifiers were imprisoned in the Cybros above the planet of Glacius. They were not only in a stasis field but also secured by legions of templar. A while ago, Jean broke these Purifiers out with the help of the Tal'darim and reprogrammed them to her side. As far as Artanis knew, the Purifiers were compromised and likely destroyed.

Delta had it all planned out.

"Our people were woken from stasis by an army of rogue protoss. Their armor and their psionic energy were different from those of the Protoss Empire, and they tried to attack us."

"The Tal'darim." Artanis remembered when he investigated what happened to Glacius, a few recorders caught image of Tal'darim protoss slaughtering Daelaam defenders.

"But the Tal'darim made the mistake of letting too many of us out at once. We managed to purify the Tal'darim intruders. Afterward, we traveled across the sector, hunting down and purifying Tal'darim forces."

Artanis nodded slowly. It was a reasonable story. The Tal'darim weren't exactly cautious, and it was possible that some of them accidentally destroyed or turned off the stasis fields, releasing the Purifiers. The Purifiers might not be in their best form, but they were literally machines of war. Plus, the Cybros was their homefront.

"Then why are you here?"

"During our attacks of the Tal'darim, we took some of them prisoners and interrogated them for information. They spoke of a dark god they serve, Amon, and how he has control over the Khala and therefore over every single protoss."

Of course, that was a lie. For one thing, Amon didn't have a reason to tell the Tal'darim about his plans for the Daelaam. However, Artanis didn't know that.

The hierarch's response was still unclear when Selendis, who was listening on the side, ignited her blades.

"HERETIC! You dare speak ill of the glorious Khala?"

With a single command, the door of the chamber burst open, and dozens of zealots charged in with their weapons raised...


	112. Chapter 112

Two miniaturized particle disruptors replaced Delta's two arms. She had no intention of fighting her way out, but she needed to show some strength and determination.

"I am not here for a fight, templar." She warned before returning to Artanis. She was well aware Selendis wasn't the reasonable type, and if she wanted to get out of this room in one piece, she should appeal to the hierarch instead of the executor.

"Selendis!" Artanis warned. He has barely woken up from Delta's warning. The idea of the sacred Khala, the very foundation for the protoss society for millions of years, to be corrupted shocked him beyond the explanation of words. A part of him wanted to allow Selendis and the zealots to dissect Delta and just forget about this, but it was his responsibility as the hierarch of the Daelaam to consider all the possibilities and figure out what was best for his people.

Selendis and the zealots stepped back, but the look on their face still told Delta if she made one wrong move, they wouldn't hesitate to cut her apart.

"What is your proof?" The hierarch pushed.

Delta held her right arm out and tapped a key, and a hologram projection popped up. Inside the hologram, a Tal'darim ascendant was confessing.

"The dark god promised us the Daelaam protoss will be on our side in the oncoming war."

"The Daelaam aren't allies of the Tal'darim, nor do they serve your god." Inside the video, a mechanical Purifier demanded.

"Amon said he has control over the Khala psionic network of the Aiur protoss. At a single command from him, all the Khala protoss will become his puppets." The first Khala referred to the network while the second referred to the Aiur protoss faction.

Artanis frowned at the image. He didn't believe for a second that a Tal'darim and a Purifier would work together to put up an act, which meant this video was likely true, but...it was just too hard to believe.

The Khala had a special position in the heart of the Khala protoss. Countless years ago, the Khala ended the bloody protoss civil war and pushed the protoss civilization to a new height. Under the light of the Khala, the protoss reached its Golden Age. Even though the glory of the Protoss Empire no longer shines, the Khala kept the protoss together during this struggling age. Without the Khala, most of the protoss believed they would fall apart. That was why they were so determined to persecute the Nerazim protoss who refused the Khala.

Selendis shared this view.

"The Tal'darim are murderers with no code of honor, and the Purifiers are hostile machines. Both factions have claimed countless protoss lives. They cannot be trusted!"

"I have placed the evidence right under your eyes. Only the arrogant can't see it." Delta's eyes were still trained on Artanis. "You must severe your nerve cords!"

A wave of groans of anger came from the zealots.

Artanis sighed. "Your warning is heard, noble templar, yet we need more time. But I assure you, I will take actions."

Sometimes it was more than a matter of doing the right thing. Even if Artanis believed the Purifier was telling the truth and the Khala was indeed hacked, he couldn't just order everyone to cut off their nerve cords. The resentment from the common people would be too great, and without an obvious danger or overwhelming evidence, if Artanis tried to carry out that order with force, he might even be replaced. The Daelaam protoss might be united, but disagreement still exists.

Delta nodded. She has said and done all she could. She turned around and walked out of the chamber. The lines of zealots glanced at her angrily, but there was nothing they could do but let her pass.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jean found herself back on Umoja in no time. Moving from the mothership to a Warden ship took a while, but it was quite convenient nonetheless. The zerg nature in her body meant she could act with little need to rest. As soon as she got back, she started working.

The factories were producing like crazy. To Jean's satisfaction, another three hundred F-1 fighters were produced, and that count was constantly growing.

Even more to her satisfaction, the Umojan scientists have successfully modified new types of Warden striders. Types. Plural. Unlike with the F-1 fighters, the Umojan scientists found it necessary to come up with multiple versions of striders to fit the battlefield. This made the development process longer than that of the fighters.

As always, Jean took the easy way and named the striders the S-series.

S-1 striders were slightly smaller than SCVs at around 3 meters. Armed with twin autocannons, enough rounds for a small battle, and cheap mechanical legs, these S-1 striders were basically effective cannon fodders. It took a couple hours to put together an S-1 strider, and the amount of resource needed was relatively insignificant. All of these made the S-1 striders expendable. They were like marines, except their programming allowed them to do the maximum damage output before destruction. They were powered by cheaper reactors which allowed the reactors to self destruct when the AI controlling the striders decided they could help the situation with a loud bang.

Compared to Warden marines, which required Jean to find normal marine armors and make modification, the S-1 striders were much easier to produce. The marine armors were also designed to put on human beings, and their designs weren't ideal for machines. Sure, Jean could make modifications, but what's the point?

Jean planned on gradually replacing the Warden marines with these S-1 striders.

S-2 striders were more advanced and more expensive. They were the size of stalkers, which were around 4 meters high. They were equipped with thicker armor in the front, a pair of missiles on the side, and a pair of large caliber anti-armor guns in the front. Some of the missiles were designed to explode into a thousand shrapnels while others were made to penetrate armor. The guns could take care of armored targets, but they could reduce zerglings into pieces of flesh and bone as well.

S-2 striders were given AIs that were much smarter than those of S-1s. While S-1 AIs simply identified and located hostile targets and opened fire, S-2 AIs were capable of identifying the type of enemies they were facing and develop countermeasures. For example, if they were facing zerglings, they would use shrapnel missile rounds to do most of the damage and use their guns to pick of individual zerglings. If they were facing ultralisks, they would focus on the beasts' legs. Aim for the head and they might miss the brain, but take out the legs, and maimed ultralisks were basically meat shields.

If S-1s were the marines, with their power in the numbers, the S-2s would be the marauders and goliaths. Their guns composed of a large portion of the damage output on the battlefield.

S-3 striders were more like walking fortresses than striders, but Jean called them striders anyways. Over 20 meters tall, they were even larger than thors. Normally, on the battlefield, something this large were only targets where the enemies could focus their firepower on. To keep the S-3 striders longer, Umojan engineers installed plating used on battlecruisers on all sides of these striders. Casual zealot blades or marauder grenades were useless against them, nevermind marine rifles and zergling claws.

The size of the S-3s allowed the engineers to pile on as much firepower as possible. The exact armaments could be adjusted based on the exact situation, but the available choices include crucio shock cannons, usually placed on siege tanks, 250mm cannons, punisher cannons, and javelin missile launchers. All three were formerly placed on thors, and now they made up the S-3s' major damage output. Adding to the mix were flamethrowers capable of melting through armor and flesh alike. If the S-3s were surrounded by a swarm of hydralisks or zerglings, they could easily get out of the mess by setting everything around them on fire.

These three types of striders were already mass produced. Jean planned on replacing all the Warden marines and marauders and reapers with these striders. The striders were superior, and a uniform set of units was better for the supply line.

The age for modified Warden units has passed. With her own industrial and engineering system, Jean has reached a point where she could create her own types of units rather than just duplicate those of other factions.

Setting aside the report from the newly created Umojan Science Corps and ordering the factories to cut all Warden modifications and focus on the striders, Jean heard a knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Sir," An Umojan officer walked in and saluted. "Prince Valerian is here to see you."

"Show him in."

"Yes sir."

Former Dominion Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk walked in. Ever since the battle of Char, Valerian has been taken under Jean's wings. After the death of Raynor, Valerian has been gaining forces. He has wisely moved some of his wealth to a secret source that survived after Arcturus Mengsk decided to wipe the table. This move made sure Valerian had the money to hire mercenaries and build up a fleet. A few days ago, Valerian even made contact with Mira's Marauders and convinced its leader to stand by him against the Dominion.

Mira Han wasn't too happy with losing Matt Horner to the Dominion raid, and a strong woman like her was willing to use force to get her vengeance.

"Prince Valerian." Jean stood up and smiled warmly. Valerian Mengsk was a key piece in her plan to unite the sector behind her. He was crucial to taking over the Dominion. Defeating the Dominion wasn't easy. Turning the Dominion to her side was even harder. She needed to play nice for now.

"Commander Cassidy." Valerian returned the politeness with equal gratitude. On one hand, he was grateful toward Jean for harboring him. On the other hand, with Raynor gone, he needed a fleet to take back the Dominion, and from his experience with the Umojans, he could tell Jean had quite the influence here. He didn't know if she was just trusted by the Umojan Ruling Council or what, and he had no intention to find out.

Both needed each other, which was why the interaction was the very example of politeness.

The two exchanged a few words before getting to the real topic of the day.

"My people inside the Dominion has been contacting me. My father's dictatorship and his refusal to act against the Swarm has turned many of his former followers to my side. Already, three admirals and four governors have contacted me. They will turn to my side when I return."

Although the Dominion military frequently gets a bad rap, the fact is a large portion of the fleet and the commanding structure is still covered by competent people who only wanted the best for humanity. Before, they found no way to resist their emperor and had no choice but to comply, but now, given a new leader who was much wiser and suitable, they were willing to switch their allegiance.

But a few turncoats weren't enough to change the war. That was why Valerian was here. "I need the Umojan fleet to back me up against my father's loyal supporters."

Jean sighed. "Your father has committed a lot of crimes, but the Dominion Fleet is still one of the strongest armadas in the sector. According to our intel, it outnumbers the Umojan Fleet by over four to one. Even if we can somehow breach the fleet, your father has made Korhal into an impenetrable stronghold. Taking the planet will require resources we don't have."

"We need allies."

Valerian started thinking. "My father has a lot of enemies, but most of them are too weak to help us."

"Most of them." Jean emphasized on that part. "Not all."

Valerian rose his eyebrows.

"What do you know about the Queen of Blades?"

Valerian Mengsk immediately understood. He has done his homework before he went to Raynor, and he was well aware of the relationship between Arcturus Mengsk, Sarah Kerrigan, and James Raynor. Even before Raynor's death, Kerrigan wanted Mengsk's head. Now…

"I have made contact with Kerrigan. She made it out of the Hyperion and has returned to zerg space to build up her forces against your father. She can be a powerful ally. With the Swarm on our back, our chances with the Dominion is much greater."

Jean _forgot_ to mention the part that she encouraged Kerrigan to go back to the zerg. Why?

"But the Swarm," Valerian was hesitant. Meddling with the zerg wasn't something any leader wanted to be associated with. He was willing to throw his own reputation into the mud for the greater good, but if the Swarm launched war on a terran world as populated as Korhal...people are going to die. Lots of people.

Jean thought about that. She knew what type of person Valerian Mengsk was. If it was his father, she would simply state the lives of the common people didn't matter, but with the prince, she tried a different approach.

"Kerrigan has changed. According to my intel, on planets with civilian populations, she terminated the local Dominion forces but let those civilians go. She also accepted surrenders. Her underlings didn't harm a single prisoner or civilian."

This was true. If Jean wanted to incorporate the Swarm into her alliance, she would need to make sure the Umojans and the Dominion soldiers wouldn't shoot the zerg before the battle against Amon even begins. She strictly told Kerrigan to make her forces follow a rather noble code of behavior. After she listed out the benefits to the Queen of Blades, the latter obeyed. A bit inconvenience was nothing compared to the support of Jean and other terran factions against Mengsk.

Valerian nodded.

"However, there is a problem." Jean continued. "After the battle of Char, General Warfield was tasked with exterminating the rest of the Swarm. Apparently, Emperor Mengsk no longer needed the threat of the Swarm to justify his totalitarian rule. Warfield located Kerrigan and continued to pursue her after she returned. Warfield has half the Dominion Fleet and Kerrigan's forces were scattered. We need to deal with Warfield if we hope to bring the Swarm into the fold."

"We are not killing General Warfield. He is a good soldier and a noble person."

"Indeed." Even if Jean could take down Warfield and his fleet with minimal losses, the action itself was costly. If Valerian took the throne, then the entire Dominion Fleet would be part of Jean's armada. Destroying the Dominion ships right now would be like destroying her own ships in the future. "We need to talk to him. Actually, let me rephrase this. You need to talk to him. If you can't turn him to our side, convince him to stay neutral and let Kerrigan pass."

Valerian nodded.


	113. Chapter 113

Dominion fortress. Char.

Inside his office, General Warfield looked down at a report filed by his field officers detailing the increase in activity of the zerg Swarm.

After the battle of Char, thanks to his final decision to obey Mengsk's orders and turn on the Umojans, the General kept his position as the commander of all the Dominion forces at Char. The man still felt bad for turning on his former allies and brothers in arms, but he covered this grudge by focusing on terminating the zerg threat.

The zerg forces on Char were scattered. Broodmother Zagara, who was left on Char when Kerrigan led the best of the Swarm into the terran ambush, controlled most of the zerg on the planet, but dozens of other broodmothers each controlled a faction of the zerg. These broodmothers were formally independent of each other and only answered to the Queen of Blades. With the Queen of Blades gone, these broodmothers didn't hesitate to turn on each other for more resources and forces.

This made them even more vulnerable to the Dominion onslaught. For weeks, the broodmothers fought each other while striking back against Dominion attack parties, which were composed of ground forces and starships alike. Divided and having lost most of its flyers, the Swarm had little ability to challenge the terran in the air.

It was only a matter of time before they were terminated, but things changed recently.

Warfield wasn't sure what happened. All of a sudden, all the civil conflict between the broodmothers disappeared, and when the terran hunting parties moved on a single hive cluster, they found themselves facing the full might of all the factions of the Swarm. The squad of battlecruisers sent to rescue the hunting party was forced back by a system of carefully positioned orbital defenses. This was odd. The broodmothers weren't known for their tactics and skills in setting up defenses. All they knew was attack or retreat.

Something was wrong. Warfield knew it. He has sent out a squad of ghosts a while ago to investigate the matter. If he was to fight a war, he wanted to know who was commanding the other side.

And he got the answer rather quickly.

Someone knocked on the door. Warfield answered. An officer entered.

"General, the ghost squad you deployed has returned."

"Send them to me."

"Errr…" The officer hesitated. "There are...some complications."

Warfield frowned, but in just minutes, he found out why.

The last member of the ghost party was lying on a bed. His suit was stained red from blood. A piece of spine penetrated his stomach. Nanobots were working on his wound as they cut apart and removed the spine and fixed the wound. The best of the medical resources in the fleet was deployed. Ghosts were valuable.

"General." Seeing Warfield, the ghost struggled to salute, but Warfield stopped him.

"Soldier, what happened to you?"

"My brothers and I were scouring through one of the major hive clusters when we were made. We tried to take her down, but she was too strong...the Swarm converged on us. We tried to retreat, but it was too late. My brothers gave their lives so I can deliver the news to you."

The apocalyptic nature of Char made terran communication devices unstable.

"What news?" Warfield's heart sank. "Who is she?"

"The Queen of Blades."

Warfield's fist went tight. Last he heard, the Queen of Blades was taken away by that pirate Raynor after being returned to her human state. A while ago, the Dominion Alpha Fleet conducted a raid on the Hyperion and killed James Raynor. Sarah Kerrigan was assumed to be killed in the explosion as well, and Mengsk didn't hesitate to announce that news to the public.

But somehow, the Queen of Blades not only survived but also returned to Char. The Dominion, the Umojans, and the Raiders gave their lives to take her down, and now all their sacrifice were for nothing.

"Is she...human?" The general finally asked. A human Kerrigan was weaker than a zerg Kerrigan.

To his disappointment, the ghost shook his head.

Warfield tried to keep his face straight and prevent his anger and frustration from showing on his face. As the commanding officer, his every move might affect his men. He told the medical staff to take care of the ghost as much as they could before returning to his office.

He knew he needed to strike Kerrigan down immediately. Give her some time, and the Swarm would be returned to the peak of its power. He couldn't afford to wait.

Suddenly, he found his personal communication device buzzing. Frowning, he picked it up.

"This is General Warfield."

"General. It's been a while."

Warfield's eyes widened as he recognized the voice to be that of Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk, who was now going rogue and plotting against his father.

"What do you want, Valerian?" He demanded, not bothering with being polite.

"General, you have spent years in the Dominion military working with my father. You know what type of man he is. Do you honestly think he is fit to lead the Dominion?" Valerian went straight to the point.

"And you're suggesting you will be a better leader?" Warfield replied, unfazed. He was past the point where he would bend his knee from a few words. In fact, he had quite a grudge against the prince. "You are a fool, Valerian. Your righteous rebellion will only lead to pointless and meaningless death! I have heard of your little operations. Attacking Dominion colonies. Infiltrating Dominion armories. Hiring mercenaries. You're preparing for war. How many people have you killed to build up your forces? How many more have to die before you can claim the throne? For what?"

"For justice!" Valerian knew he couldn't let Warfield continue. "My father has committed crimes enough to send him to death a hundred times, yet he went unpunished. You know what he did to Tarsonis. If I remember correctly, you were commanding the Korhal defensive forces when the Raiders infiltrated Korhal and broadcasted evidence of my father using the zerg against the Terran Confederacy! You think I have blood on my hand? My father has killed billions!"

"Yet he commands a unified terran empire. Killer or not, your father's presence unites the terran against the alien threats. If he dies, how long will it be until you can fully replace him? How many will die in the process because the Dominion is too weak to protect them?"

"It's a necessary sacrifice." Valerian was as determined as Warfield was. "This is why I am here. I have made alliances. I have allies. If I become the emperor to the Dominion, the zerg will no longer be a threat."

"What? Why?"

"Because the Queen of Blades will be on our side."

Now Warfield was enraged. "You listen to me, boy! If you think you can control Kerrigan, you are wrong! Your father has tried this before, and he was betrayed. Kerrigan is not your friend! The moment she sees an opportunity, she will betray you!"

Valerian came prepared. In fact, he has put some thoughts into Warfield's questions before when he was alone. "It's possible, but I have reason to believe Kerrigan has changed. If you look at the reports from the Dominion planets that have fallen to the zerg, you will notice that the zerg spared anyone that laid down their arms. They even gave their captives enough food to keep them alive until help can arrive. Does that sound like Kerrigan is still the Queen of Blades that massacred billions?"

"It's just an act…"

"Perhaps, but it shows how much Kerrigan is willing to go to take down my father. We have a common enemy, and with this alliance intact, the Dominion will have no need for someone as ruthless as my father." Valerian tilted his head. "It's a pity, general. I thought you served the people of the Dominion rather than my father. It's obvious which decision is better for the people."

Warfield stood there, torn. On one hand, he despised the Swarm and he knew a lot of people would die during this civil war. On the other, he recognized Valerian would indeed be a better emperor than his father. Although he tried to cover it, he wasn't exactly a fan of certain orders from Mengsk, including holding back against the Swarm when there was a chance to put them down and turning on the former allies like the Umojans. From what he heard about Valerian, the prince would indeed make a better king.

Valerian waited patiently.

Eventually, Warfield reached a conclusion. There will always be casualties in war. As for the Swarm involvement…

"Prince Valerian, you might be right." He paused. "What do you want me to do?"

"Let the Swarm fleet land on Char and depart with the zerg forces and the Queen of Blades. Afterward, don't answer the my father's call for help."

"I can pull a few strings." Warfield agreed. "However, I need you to promise me something."

"What is it?"

"Keep the zerg away from Korhal. The civilian population on Korhal will be decimated if the emperor's forces clash with the Swarm in the streets. There are billions of people on Korhal, and I will not condemn them to die."

Valerian frowned. "My father will gather all his forces around Korhal. It will be a tough fight. If the Swarm isn't involved…"

But Warfield held his ground. If the zerg were involved, it would be a disaster. A single zergling could accidentally run into a pedastrian and rip him apart. An Ultralisk could step on a house and crush everyone inside. A baneling could explode into a puddle of acid, and if someone accidentally steps on that aside, well...it wouldn't be pretty. Sure, there would always be collateral damage in war, and terran forces clashing against each other would be no different, but at least human beings would have more concern for the innocent. It was one thing for terran to kill terran. It was another for zerg to kill terran. Plus, it didn't matter much if Valerian used the Swarm to destroy Dominion fleets, but if he used the zerg to take Korhal, he might be seen as a traitor to humanity to the public.

The prince was hesitant. Saying yes would mean the Umojan forces and his own forces would need to take Korhal all by themselves. It would be a costly move.

But if the deal wasn't struck, he would need to take on the full might of the Dominion Fleet. As long as he said yes, half the Dominion Fleet, the part under Warfield, would be effectively neutralized.

Finally, he agreed. "You have my word, general. No zerg, except for the Queen of Blades, will set foot on Korhal."

* * *

Warfield was clever. He knew he didn't have absolute control over his men. If he straight up ordered them to leave, he would be challenged and Emperor Mengsk would know. Therefore, he put up an act.

The Dominion Fleet blockading Char was suddenly attacked by a Swarm fleet from the back. General Warfield recalled all ships to a single side of the planet to face the Swarm. Meanwhile, zerg leviathans landed on the opposite side of the planet where Warfield left a gaping hole in the defenses through the recall. These leviathans loaded up Kerrigan and most of the zerg on the planet and quickly warped away. None of the terran saw this. Warfield made sure of it.

As soon as the transports were gone, the main zerg fleet, which has always been in a defensive position, jumped away with minimal losses.

Warfield ordered the Dominion Fleet to return to surrounding and blockading the now empty planet. In reality, Char only had a shell of its former might, but all the orbital defenses were in place. Warfield put a halt to all requests for attacking and suggested the tactic of starving the zerg. That sounded reasonable. As the homeworld of the Swarm, Char was mined out of resources years ago. As long as the Dominion Fleet could keep any type of zerg reinforcement and supply lines out, eventually the Swarm would be out of resources. While the zerg didn't need bullets or cannon rounds, they did need energy to generate spines and spores.

No one in the hundreds of battlecruisers above Char knew their real enemy was already heading for Korhal.


	114. Chapter 114

With the help of General Warfield, Kerrigan left Char with most of the Swarm on the planet. She quickly met up with the rest of the broodmothers, who she already regained control over before she returned to Char.

Despite the recent defeats, Kerrigan still held quite the forces after she gathered all the broodmothers available. Over sixty leviathans rested in the middle of tens of thousands of flyers.

The Queen of Blades stood in the bridge of her new flagship. Her former leviathan flagship was reduced to ashes by the combined terran fleet and the Xel'naga Keystone. The queen groaned slightly in annoyance as she looked at the mighty zerg fleet that, for the moment, wasn't doing anything.

If it was up to her, back on Char, she would call in her fleet on the Dominion armada and, at the same time, lead her Swarm on Char on the Dominion fortress on the planet. She would chase Mengsk's minions off her planet, and her fleet would finish the job. The demise of this fraction of the Dominion Fleet would tell Mengsk his worst nightmare has returned.

Unfortunately, her ally had other ideas in mind. Kerrigan toyed with the idea of ditching Jean and just do everything her way, but she quickly realized she couldn't afford to risk failing to take down Mengsk. The Dominion was mighty and the Swarm was no longer the semi-invincible faction, and if she wanted to secure the kill, she needed all the help she could get.

So she listened to Jean. She got her fleet out of Char without anyone noticing it, and now she was waiting for a meeting.

Suddenly, a mutalisk gave her a psionic signal. She took over the mutalisk's body through the psionic network and saw a squad of twelve terran battlecruisers exiting warp space a safe distance away from the zerg staging area. Six of them were white while six of them were blue.

The Queen of Blades turned off the communication and passed down an order. Her flagship left the staging area and approached the terran fleet. Likewise, a white battlecruiser and a blue one deviated from the rest of the fleet and approached the leviathan. The terran and the zerg were sworn enemies, but this time neither side had their shields up or their weapons ready. The two battlecruisers got close to the leviathan's bridge before extending out two tunnels, connecting to the zerg vessel's bridge.

Jean and Valerian stepped onto the leviathan, along with two dozen guards each. Jean had twenty four Warden G-1 units, the enhanced version of Warden ghosts. Valerian had twenty four elite marines who have been protecting him since his time as a prince. They followed him against the Dominion, and now they were willing to follow him onboard the Swarm flagship. They knew very well if things went wrong, there was very little they could do, but they obeyed Valerian's orders nonetheless.

Hundreds of zerg were around the two, but none of them made a move. The Queen of Blades had absolute dominance over her minions. If she wanted to, she could order them to commit suicide. Suppressing their urge to attack was just a piece of cake.

Suddenly, most of the zerglings moved to the side, leaving just one of the zerglings in the middle of the hall. The zergling tapped his claws on the floor, almost like a puppy, before turning around and slowly walking across the creep covered floor of the leviathan. The terran group followed.

Eventually, they found their way into Kerrigan's bridge.

As soon as Jean saw Kerrigan, she started calculating. Judging from her looks, the Queen of Blades have taken a trip to Zerus at some point after they separated. She was back to her zerg mode, with all the spines and snake-like hair and claws. Jean could sense something familiar from the Queen of Blades. She knew it was the primal essence. Jean herself was brought back to life by the primal spawning pool on Zerus, and she was certain Kerrigan underwent a similar process.

Jean was about to say something when things suddenly took a dive toward a problematic side.

Kerrigan's eyes rested on Valerian. Her gaze was full of fire.

"Valerian Mengsk?" The Queen of Blades knew how Valerian was, which was why she wasn't exactly glad to find him on her ship. Or rather, she wasn't glad in a conventional way. "Your father killed Jim. I will enjoy leaving your severed head on his doorstep." Purple psionic energy converged between her claws.

Valerian's guards raised their weapons and took aim at Kerrigan. The Swarm units in the room screeched sharply. G-1 Warden units remained motionless, but there was no doubt if something happened, they would be the first to act.

"If you do that, my father might want to thank you." Seeing the rage of the Queen of Blades and sensing his life was in danger, Valerian reacted calmly. "After Commander Raynor gave his life for the cause, I have become his least favorite human being in the sector. He wants my head as much as he wanted Commander Raynor's."

"Don't you dare compare yourself to Jim! You're nothing like him!" Kerrigan turned to Jean. "I need an explanation."

"Prince Valerian wants the same thing you do, Kerrigan. Mengsk's life. The only thing is he also wants the throne as well. This means we can be allies." Jean replied calmly. "He was the reason you got past the Dominion blockade with the trick I told you to do. Without him, General Warfield would've easily stopped you. He has proved himself trustworthy and resourceful."

Kerrigan relaxed a little. She knew how she got out of Char was fishy, but she subconsciously tossed it behind. Now that she thought about it, what Jean said made senses. She dropped the subject of Valerian's last name and turned to the matter at hand.

"When are your forces ready to march on Korhal? I can't wait to skin Mengsk alive."

"Actually, there are some complications." Valerian cut in once again. "In order to get you out, I struck a deal with General Warfield. In part of the deal, I promised him the Swarm will not be unleashed on Korhal. The civilian casualty will be too great."

"WHAT?" Kerrigan suddenly exploded. She went through all this trouble to sit down with the son of her sworn enemy and talk, and now she was told she couldn't even attack her enemy? Then what's the point?

It was almost as if what happened a minute ago was renacted. Only this time, Kerrigan didn't bother with words. Her psionic power started blasting, and she lifted Valerian into the air, choking the life out of him.

Usually, the Queen of Blades would be more patient. She didn't become the head of the Swarm by being a dumbass. But things have been a little rough for her recently. First, she lost Raynor. Then, instead of going to Korhal directly, she was forced to go from brood to brood and return them into the fold. This burned away whatever restraint she had. The primal spawning pool didn't help with her logic either as it sent primal essence into her body. Finally, after days of sitting around doing basically nothing, she was so close to marching on Korhal, and now Valerian was telling her she couldn't do it?

Valerian's guards didn't hesitate to open fire, but they were immediately jumped on by the zerg all around. Valerian tried to explain, but he was too busy gasping for breath.

As Valerian was about to be choked to death, Jean stepped in.

24 G-1 units formed two groups. 12 of them raised their gauss rifles and started shooting down the zerg. Advanced targeting systems and expensive Warden AIs meant they very rarely missed. 12 of them drew their plasma blades and started slicing the zerg apart. When the zerg retaliated, their attacks were either dodged or deflected.

Jean took on Kerrigan. With supernatural speed, she moved in front of Kerrigan and sent out a punch. Kerrigan was obviously taken by surprise as she formed a psionic shield in front of Jean's fist, which collapsed immediately. Still, the layer of shield bought Kerrigan some time to back off.

As she was busy with Jean, her grip on Valerian was removed, and the prince hit the ground.

All the zerg in the chamber have been slaughtered. More reinforcement came in from the entire ship, but the G-1 units skillfully used the hallways to their advantage. None of the reinforcement could get close enough to make a difference. Unlike human soldiers, these mechanical G-1 units could only lose their combat efficiency if they ran out of energy or ammunition.

"Listen to me!" The situation was good, but Jean wasn't here to fight. "You will still have Mengsk! I promise you! We just have to do this more carefully."

Kerrigan breathed heavily for a couple of seconds. Just when Jean wondered if she should call in the Purifier Fleet, which she had on hold, and secure her escape when the gunshots at the doors of the chamber disappeared. The zerg reinforcement backed off. A distance away, the zerg leviathans, which were growing restless since Kerrigan's outburst, returned to their normal stance.

"Speak."

Jean glanced at Valerian. She knew the plan, but she willingly gave this opportunity to Valerian. If the three were to be allies, there couldn't be too much grudge against them. Jean needed Valerian to prove to Kerrigan he was really on her side and gain her trust. What was better at showing that than explaining how to take out her greatest nemesis?

Valerian stood back up. As a normal, organic human being, his will was incredible.

"According to my sources, there should be eight fleets around Korhal, including the Alpha Squadron and the Omega Squadron. That's more than 96 ships. There will also be a number of space platforms, armed with orbital defenses and fighter platforms. All of our fleets will work together to take them down. I have 80 ships. The Umojan Fleet can send in 200 ships. Those, plus your Swarm, will be more than enough to break through."

"After we secure the orbit, the Umojan Fleet and my fleet will surround and blockade Korhal. We will make sure no one gets in or out. My father will undoubtedly call in help from all across the Dominion. I have men inside the Dominion command structure who will send me the coordinates of these fleets and when they will jump. Kerrigan, you will lead your Swarm and intercept these fleets." Valerian paused before continuing. "Capture as many ships as you can, but if they resist, put them down."

"After all the reinforcements are down, you will bring the Swarm back to Korhal and take over the blockade while my forces and the Umojans land on Korhal."

Kerrigan tilted her head as she thought about this as logically and from a tactical perspective as possible. "Korhal will be a fortress. For years, Korhal has been Mengsk's homeworld, and he has fortified it with all the resources in the Dominion. Even if we cut off all reinforcement, I doubt you can take it."

"If we can't take it at first, then all we have to do is keep on attacking. Without fresh supply and manpower, the defenders will eventually be worn out. Even the most advanced cannons can't fire if it doesn't have any rounds. Our forces will be reinforced every day and their number will be dwindling. Plus, if we take over all the Dominion and only leave Korhal in the hands of Mengsk, it will only be a matter of time before Korhal falls." Jean added. "When that happens, I will personally lead a team and make sure Mengsk is delivered to you."

"I still believe we should attack Korhal with the Swarm."

"Do it, and General Warfield and his six hundred ships will stand against us. The entire Dominion Fleet has around 1,200 ships. Dealing with six hundred is going to be tough, but we can make it if we play it carefully and use the element of surprise wisely. If we are facing 1,200 ships...our assault will be a brief one. Don't let your emotions doom your best chance for vengeance!"

The last sentence sealed the deal.

"Fine. We move on Korhal in twenty hours. You two better be ready." Kerrigan wasn't asking them. She was informing them. Neither Jean nor Valerian objected. They have pissed off Kerrigan enough. They shouldn't push their luck.


	115. Chapter 115

Dominion space battle platform Alpha 4. Korhal.

Alpha 4 was just one of the near hundred Dominion orbital battle stations that surrounded Korhal. Emperor Arcturus Mengsk poured millions of credits into making the capital planet of the Terran Dominion as secure as possible. No other terran faction in the sector could afford to put up this many battle stations around a single planet.

Alpha 4 was armed with two Drakken Pulse Cannons and dozens of missile turrets. A small garrison of twelve hundred Dominion soldiers patrolled the station while a group of several hundred non-combatant personnel controlled the guns and other affairs.

The job of all these battle stations was to repel the enemy's fleet alongside the Dominion Korhal Defense Fleet. As long as the Dominion ships could keep the enemy fleet at bay, the Drakken Pulse Cannons could inflict massive damage on hostile capital ships.

If Jean's combined fleet just jumped in, they would find the net of battle stations a real challenge.

Fortunately, Jean was well aware of the presence of these stations. Even if Valerian Mengsk was foolish enough to not know anything about them, all the Dominion deserters who joined the prince knew of the challenge. Along with Valerian and Kerrigan, she came up with a solution.

Inside the command center of the station, where dozens of people were monitoring the AI controlling the entire station, one of the men was frequently looking down on his watch. Finally, after several minutes, he seemed to have seen what he was looking for.

"For freedom. For the Crown Prince." He whispered as he took out something and plugged it into one of the consoles.

Within seconds, alarms blazed throughout the station. The commanding officer of the station quickly realized both the two Drakken Cannons and the missile turrets have gone offline. He ordered the computer engineers to fix the issue, but report came in that the cannons won't be shooting for a while. The targeting system was scrambled by an unknown virus.

A series of reports from the commanders from other battlestations told the officer it wasn't an accident. All twelve battle stations at a similar proximity have fallen.

"It's an attack." The commander of the Korhal Defensive Fleet, General Carolina Davis, concluded. "Mobilize all fleets. Which fleet is in the air?"

The Korhal Defense Fleet had 96 battlecruisers. Each had thousands of crew members aboard. Expecting them to be ready for battle 24/7 was foolish. All Davis could make sure was that one fleet was always ready for combat. The rest of the ships needed a while to lift off.

"Omega Squadron."

"Get them to that area now!"

"Yes sir!"

"Sir, we've detected numerous warp signals around the compromised battle stations!" Another officer reported.

"That's expected." General Davis had a poker face on. "Get me the Emperor. He needs to know about this."

* * *

As soon as the Omega Squadron got into position, so did their foes.

Sixty leviathans started splitting mutalisks, corruptors, and scourges as soon as they were in a position to do so. 250 Umojan battlecruisers were on the left. 80 rogue Dominion ships were on the right.

All of them started shooting at the 12 lone Dominion cruisers. Military class ship plating crumbled almost immediately as every inch of them was under fire. 24 Umojan battlecruisers charged up their Yamato Cannons, and when the rounds were shot out and reached the Dominion ships, they sealed the deal.

All twelve ships, including the Gorgon flagship, were destroyed in just minutes. Tens of thousands of lives perished.

With that obstacle out of the way, the Umojan fleet, the Swarm fleet, and the majority of the rogue Dominion fleet moved forward to face the assembling Korhal Defense Fleet. Meanwhile, a dozen rogue Dominion ships descended on the temperorily crippled battle stations. Instead of blasting the stations of the sky, the rogue ships simply deployed hundreds of dropships. When the Dominion forces tried to resist, they were bombarded and wiped out. The rogue forces in the dropships easily took over control of the battle stations and started turning them around.

At this point, the Korhal Defensive Fleet was already in place, but it was obvious to Davis she wasn't at the winning side. If the Korhal Defensive Fleet was a mountain, then the impending enemies was a tidal wave. It would take a miracle to hold her ground.

"General Davis, the Korhal Defensive Forces are gathering. I have ordered all Dominion ships to converge on Korhal. Your mission is to delay the enemies as long as possible."

Mengsk ordered through the hologram.

Davis understood. Mengsk was willing to sacrifice every single ship in the Korhal's orbit to protect the capital world and buy time for reinforcement. Fair enough. But Davis wondered if she could hold out long enough. Plus, even if the Dominion ships could come in, it would be a coin toss if they could save the day. The Swarm + The Umojans + a portion of rogue Dominion Fleet? This was a deadly armada. Even the full might of the Dominion Fleet needed all the ships it could get to seize victory.

"Emperor, it will be a wise decision for you to leave Korhal, just in case."

Mengsk considered the option but shook his head. "The Umojan fighters have put the entire planet under lockdown. I'm told they are faster than any ship we have. If I try to leave, I will be chased down before I can jump. Stand your ground, general. I will not flee from my enemies."

The hologram was turned off, but Davis was far from convinced. Still, she had no choice but to fight.

The Korhal Defensive Fleet fell back to four battle stations that were still functioning. Hundreds of capital ships and thousands of corruptors, mutalisks, F-1 fighters, vikings, and wraiths swarmed forward. While the capital ships slowly advanced while firing at the Dominion flank, the fighters were the face to get face to face with the Dominion ships.

Dominion fighters were flung out. Anti-air guns started blasting. Missiles were fired.

As soon as the two sides made contact, the situation was obvious. Whatever Dominion fighters that were deployed were quickly overwhelmed. They fought bravely and fiercely, but this wasn't the medieval ages. Courage no longer decided the course of battle. Countless red vikings and marauders exploded.

The Swarm, as always, used their numbers. The first line of mutalisks were gunned down by the initial wave of Dominion missiles, but the second line and the third line quickly went past the pieces of zerg flesh and blood and continued the charge. Thousands of glaive worms were flung out at the terran fighters. The expert pilots dodged the best they could, but how were they supposed to dodge when there was a carpet of glave worms in front of them? Some of the fighters tanked the glaive worms with their plating while others burned.

Scourges were more fearsome. These rapid suicide bombers had their eyes set on the battlecruisers. Thousands of them formed a squad as they cornered a ship and started smashing into the armor around their bridge. A fraction was gunned down. A fraction was exhausted at the outer armor. A fraction was blocked by the defensive matrix. But even so, enough scourges burned through the armor on the bridge and sent those inside to an endless voyage through the skies.

While the zerg used their numbers, F-1 fighters were the very definition of efficiency. Dominion vikings and wraiths were blasted out of the sky by missiles while their own projectiles were dodged by the F-1s with impossible angles. It was AIs vs human pilots, and it was the opposite of fair.

A squad of F-1 fighters set their eyes on one of the Gorgon battlecruisers. Unlike most of the F-1 fighters who were exchanging punches with Dominion fighters, these fighters were barely armed. Their only armament was a pair of ion cannons. They were also so much faster than the rest. They charged at their target with no intention of returning.

The Gorgon's batteries started shooting, but they accomplished little. The captain barely hesitated to use the defensive matrix in a desperate attempt to save the ship and all the crew member on it.

All sixteen F-1 fighters smashed into the battlecruiser almost at the same time. Instead of just falling apart outside the defensive matrix, all sixteen fighters exploded into millions of degrees of heat.

These fighters were suicide bombers. They were armed with enhanced engines and they carried tactical nuclear missiles. As soon as they hit the enemy ship, the AIs set off the nukes.

Nuclear missiles were easily intercepted if they were simply shot at the enemy fleet, so Jean masked them and protect them by placing them inside rapid fighters more than capable of staying alive on the battlefield.

The Gorgon targeted was completely destroyed. All sixteen nuclear missiles burned giant hole after giant hole across the ship, but even if the blast and the exposure to space didn't kill the crew members, the radiation did. Gorgons were designed to handle this much radiation at this close of a distance.

In just five minutes, one third of the Korhal Defensive Fleet was gone. The attackers, on the other hand, were still endless and pouring forward.

"We must fall back!" General Davis didn't give a damn about her soldiers, but she was well aware she was nobody without her forces. "Get Emperor Mengsk online again!"

"Sir, we have lost contact with the capital. It seems the hostiles are jamming our signal."

General Davis looked out of the window in deep thoughts.

Carolina Davis was a conflicting character. She has been with Mengsk since when he led the rebels of the Sons of Korhal against the wicked Terran Confederacy. She has been one of his most trusted generals after the Terran Dominion was established. She might not be as talented or well liked as General Warfield, but she was certainly more trusted. Mengsk knew he could trust Davis with his dirty deeds but couldn't do the same thing with Warfield. That was also why Davis was in the supposedly safe environment of Korhal when Warfield was all the way at Char.

In the original history, after Kerrigan killed Arcturus Mengsk and Valerian Mengsk took over the throne and commanded the Terran Dominion, General Davis pledged her allegiance to him but, behind his back, created the terrorist group the Defenders of Man in an attempt to force Valerian to resign. Eventually, her attempt failed and she was executed by ghost operative Nova Terra, who was serving Valerian at the time.

Was she loyal to Mengsk? Maybe. She talked about Arcturus Mengsk every other sentence when talking to Valerian or Nova. But if she was really faithful, then in the original world, why did she stand by and do nothing when the Swarm seized Korhal? There was no doubt Mengsk summoned her and whatever fleet she was commanding at that time to abandon her mission and return to Korhal. No other mission was more important than the emperor himself. Then where was she?

The answer was simple. General Davis realized Korhal was already lost and Mengsk was as good as dead, so she didn't bother to throw herself and whatever forces she had away. Instead, she pretended to be loyal to Valerian and only exposed her true intentions when she was sure she could win.

Perhaps she was loyal to Arcturus, but she was more or less using the emperor as a political asset.

Asking her to die for Mengsk was like asking Jean to die for Raynor.

"Order the Alpha Squadron to clear a path. Jump all ships to Rendevous Point India."

"But, sir! That will leave Korhal to the hands of the zerg!" One of the officers objected. Davis turned to him and stared into his eyes.

"You have received an order, soldier. Obey it."

"But...yes sir."

The Korhal Defensive Fleet started moving. The Alpha Squadron was still commanded by Admiral Princeton. After the raid on the Hyperion, the Alpha Squadron was portrayed as the hero of the Dominion. Arcturus Mengsk was true to his promise and poured resources and manpower into the fleet, not only returning it to its former strength before the raid but also much stronger.

For quite a while, Admiral Princeton was glad he took the mission.

But now, with the full might of the Swarm smashing down on the Squadron, Admiral Princeton has given up all hope. Kerrigan heard the Dominion propaganda as well and knew the Alpha Squadron was the Dominion Fleet that took the life of her loved one.

When the Alpha Squadron moved forward, Kerrigan, without any thoughts, moved several leviathans out of their former position to make sure they couldn't get away.

This left a part of the combined fleet flank open. Seizing the opportunity, the rest of the Korhal Defensive Fleet, barely thirty battlecruisers and hardly any fighters, jumped away.

The Alpha Squadron was left to die, and they did die. At their last moments, the Dominion ships were so fully surrounded by leviathans and corruptors and mutalisks that they could barely budge.

The battlecruisers fell one by one. Finally, the flagship Admiral Princeton was in was the only one left.

Kerrigan smirked in bloodthirst.

"Take it out."

The corruptors and leviathans started pushing on the flagship. Armors screeched and crumbled under the brute force. The crew members screamed as they were crushed as well.

It was a gradual and painful death.

Valerian frowned. "What the hell, Kerrigan?" The plan was to wipe out the entire Korhal Defensive Fleet, not merely maim it.

Kerrigan smirked. "I don't answer to you, _Mengsk_."

"We should proceed with the plan. What's done is done. Arguing now is pointless." Jean cut in.

The Swarm turned and warped away to hunt down Dominion fleets from all across the sector. The Umojan Fleet and the rogue Dominion Fleet remained behind and started picking out the battle stations one by one. Valerian's fighters and transports flew around the battlefield and picked up survivors from all sides. The Dominion survivors were imprisoned for further decision from Valerian.

The capital ships continued to move from battle station to battle station. Some Drakken Pulse Cannons fired back, but by themselves they weren't enough. The battlecruisers either blasted the battle stations out of the sky with Yamato Cannons a safe distance away or simply tanked the cannon shots and sent down drop pods.

Everything was coming together for the assault on Korhal.


	116. Chapter 116

Korhal.

It has been over a week since the fall of the Korhal Defensive Fleet. Since then, Emperor Mengsk put the entire planet under martial law. Dominion forces were deployed all across the planet. Mengsk's personal guards. along with Dominion Special Forces, secured the Royal Palace and the area around it.

When Jean ordered a brief assault to test the depth of the defenses, the three battlecruisers that carried out the mission were welcomed by large caliber ground to air defenses. One ship was destroyed and the other two retreated, wounded.

The defenses were proven to be plenty and well placed. Even without the fleet and the orbital defenses, Korhal's skies weren't open to hostile ships, at least not without a fight.

But Jean was in no rush. For the past week, the Swarm has ravaged across the rest of the Dominion. Fleets were overwhelmed and destroyed. Armies were slaughtered. Colonies fell. After the zerg left, rogue terran forces under Valerian went to those defenseless territories and claimed them for the Crown Prince. Those who were willing to die for their emperor were already gone at the hands(claws?) of the zerg, and those left were easily turned.

The Umojan Fleet continued to engage Korhal's defenses. Jean made sure to pull back the wounded ships and ordered them to be fully repaired before throwing them back into the battlefield. This minimized Umojan losses. The Dominion, on the other hand, couldn't really move their orbital defenses.

Plus, Jean's primary purpose wasn't to take out Dominion forces and defenses, although that certainly helped. Her fleet had the entire planet surrounded and cut off any supply from the rest of the Dominion. She knew Korhal obviously has quite the ammunition storage, but the Dominion were facing hundreds of capital ships from all directions at all time. The amount of rounds for orbital cannons was plummeting. After a week of nonstop combat, she doubted the Dominion still had the resource needed to repel the inevitable full scale invasion.

For the entire week, the Umojans have been reinforced. Umojan factories cut most of the production of civilian products and transitioned to constructing military weapons. Brand new Warden units were shipped to Korhal in the thousands. Jean was getting ready to strike.

She just needs one thing...and that thing was the Swarm. When dozens of leviathans jumped in, Jean knew it was time.

The Swarm quickly replaced the Umojan Fleet and Valerian's fleet to blockade the planet. Mutalisks and scourges replaced vikings and wraiths.

Jean met up with Valerian and Kerrigan once again through the holograms.

"My forces will focus on a single landing zone. I have sent both of you the coordinates. My fleet will clear the orbital defenses and bombard the Dominion defenses first, and then our transports will deploy the ground units. Bunkers and siege tanks will lock the area down and hold off the Dominion until further reinforcement arrive. Afterward, we will push forward under air support. As long as we can take care of the orbital defenses, we can have absolute control of the air."

Valerian nodded in agreement. "I will deploy 25,000 men and 1,000 transports and set up a defensive position 20 kilometers beside yours." He pulled up a hologram map and pointed at a location. Jean nodded. Valerian's forces had their way of fighting and Jean's Warden units had theirs. They each had different commanders and styles. Letting them fight side by side could be conflicting. It would be best if they fought relatively separated but were still close enough to help each other if needed.

Kerrigan suddenly cut it. "Another thing. My Swarm can stay in orbit, but there is no way I will stay back and do nothing." She paused. "I'll be going in with the landing parties."

Jean tilted her head in consideration. Since she herself wouldn't get her hands dirty, and since Viper was too precious to risk, her landing party didn't really have a spearhead. Someone as powerful as Kerrigan could minimize the loss of her forces. Plus, the Queen of Blades, especially when she was backed by an army as strong as the Wardens, wouldn't be so hard to kill.

"Very well. Good luck with your...hunting."

Kerrigan smirked.

* * *

Dominion Emperor Arcturus Mengsk stood inside his throne room. A group of generals stood in front of him with their heads lowered in obedience. Elite ghosts lurked in the shadows and eyed everyone in the room in alert.

"Your grace, we still can't make contact with General Davis. We are continuing to lose contact with our outer garrisons and companies. Twenty three major planets have fallen to the zerg. Minor planets...countless."

Mengsk remained silent. He knew Davis as well as Davis knew him. The general was a good, and ruthless, commander, but she wasn't a martyr. He shouldn't be surprised. If he was in her place, he would do the same.

As for the fall of the planets...it wasn't something he could prevent.

"And the Char Fleet? Warfield has 600 ships under his command. His sole task is to tame the zerg, and now the zerg is here! Where is he?"

"Your grace, we can't contact General Warfield either. The rebels must have jammed our frequencies."

Mengsk shook his head in disbelief. Jammed? The communication device between him and the top commander of his forces was literally the best among the Dominion. The zerg and the Umojans are good, but even they can't do the impossible.

"Your grace," Nova suddenly spoke up. She was of lower rank than most people in the room, but as Mengsk's sharpest blade, she had a say in this. "Maybe General Warfield can't be contacted, and maybe he was taken out by the rebels before the assault on Korhal, but maybe he simply doesn't want to be contacted."

A few generals were taken back by the suggestion.

Mengsk seriously considered the idea. "Are you saying Warfield betrayed me? He let the Swarm past his guard on purpose?"

"General Warfield will never do such a thing!" One of the generals complained. Warfield wasn't the most liked general in the Dominion, but he was a righteous man. To think he would betray mankind for the zerg was outrageous.

"Then how do you explain everything that has happened?" Nova rebutted. "The Swarm is here at _Korhal_! The capital world of the Dominion! Where is Warfield? Not a single ship from a fleet of six hundred is here! It's been a week since the ships defending this planet burned in the skies! Do you really think Warfield hasn't heard about this?"

The general was about to say something else when Mengsk raised his hand and shut down all complaints. He turned to Nova.

"Nova, bring a squad of Special Forces and go to Char. Find Warfield and bring him and his fleet here. If he, or anyone, resist that order, kill them. I'll send a squad of fighters as escort." He paused. "You need to get to Warfield. Take my royal ship."

Nova was slightly shocked. The Swarm put the entire planet under blockade, not allowing anyone to come or go, but Mengsk could always leave if he really wanted to. His royal ship was the fastest and more durable ship in the Dominion. Its speed and plasma shield could keep the ship alive against hostile fighters and its advanced warp drives could bring the ship out of danger before hostile capital ships arrive.

Add a squad of fighters for escort, the royal ship could easily find a weak spot in the blockade and break through, saving everyone in the ship from total destruction. Even if Korhal fell, the head of the Dominion could live on.

By giving over the royal ship to Nova, Mengsk was abandoning his own path to survival.

All the generals frowned as well. With the royal ship here, they could get off Korhal if things really went bad. Without the ship, if Korhal fell, they would be buried along with the Dominion foot soldiers.

But Mengsk has made up his mind. He didn't want to live. He wanted to live as the emperor. If he used the royal ship to flee, then he would lose his empire. If he managed to get Nova out and bring the Char Fleet in, then he might be able to take down the Swarm and secure his empire. He could still be emperor.

It was a great risk, but Mengsk rose a rebellion against the Terran Confederacy. He wasn't afraid of taking risks to satisfy his ambition.

"Yes sir." Nova departed at once.

Suddenly, Mengsk's personal hologram device started beeping. He turned on the device, and an officer saluted.

His words brought chills to Mengsk's heart.

"Your grace, the terran fleet has launched its attack."

The emperor turned and glanced out the window, where the cloud seemed to have been broken. Countless giant metal beasts descended upon the city. Usually, he would enjoy the sight because those metal beasts belonged to him, but this time, he was afraid.

The inevitable attack was finally here.

* * *

Outside, the Umojan and the Valerian Fleet descended upon the designated landing zone on Korhal. Hordes and hordes of F-1 fighters dove down on the orbital defenses and lit them up with missiles and laser cannons. Yamato Cannons slammed onto Drakken Pulse Cannons. Missile turrets were destroyed in groups.

Terran security forces did their best to counter the enemies in the air. Goliaths and thors unloaded their anti-air weapons. Controlled by AIs, missile turrets unloaded everything they had as quickly as possible before they were destroyed. F-1 fighters were fast, but they still took heavy losses. Every second, multiple F-1 fighters would erupt into flames or lose control and hit the ground. In both cases, some of the fighter wreckage landed on top of Dominion units. If the fighters in question were vikings or wraiths, they might take even more losses when diving into a position as heavily defended as this one.

"Wave one, deploy." As the fighters caught the attention of the Dominion, Jean ordered in her flagship.

Fifty battlecruisers started splitting drop pods toward Korhal's surface. Most of the orbital defenses were busy fighting the battlecruisers and the fighters, but from time to time a pod would still explode into a world of fire from a stray missile. All the units inside were terminated.

Still, thousands of drop pods hit the ground in the designated area. One of the battlecruisers took a Drakken Pulse Cannon round to the face as it launched the drop pods and dozens of pods were off the target, but they were insignificant in the real battle.

As soon as the pods landed, experienced Dominion marines and marauders converged on the pods, ready to gun down any emerging enemy soldiers, but they were slightly taken back to find that they weren't exactly facing soldiers.

The sound of metal hitting metal rang out across the battlefield. Warden striders emerged from the pods and started blasting almost immediately. S-1 striders gunned down marines and marauders. They didn't have an advantage in firepower or armor, but they did have overwhelming numbers. Due to the nature of machines, a single pod could pack ten of these S-1 striders, and Jean launched over three thousands pods in the first wave. All of them were cheap S-1 striders.

The relatively few Dominion soldiers between the pods were overrun by the sea of metal. With the obstacles gone, thirty thousands S-1 striders formed a sea of death. Marines and marauders collapsed as the autocannons gunned them down. Some resisted, but they barely shot out a full magazine before dozens of autocannons spat fire on them. Neither combat shields nor marauder armor did anything to stop the numerous rounds.

Thankfully for the Dominion, goliaths and siege tanks turned the table a little. Siege tanks shells landed among the S-1 flank and reduced dozens of them to pieces with every single shot. Goliath rounds tore open cheap S-1 platings. Unfortunately, the Dominion vehicle platings weren't enough to keep the vehicles alive from hundreds of autocannons blasting at the same time. As the biological forces were overwhelmed, the vehicles were surrounded from all sides and beaten down.

Three thors held their ground. They were the real MVPs of the Dominion. Autocannons bounced off their layers of plating while they could take down a S-1 with a single blast.

Six F-1 fighters dove down on one of the thors. The thor's rear armor transformed, and a dozen javelin missiles appeared. Almost as soon as the F-1s unleashed their torpedoes, the thor unloaded its missiles.

The torpedoes hit the thor, exploded, and did very little. The javelin missiles, on the other hand, went directly for the F-1s. The F-1s' laser batteries started blasting and managed to shoot several of the missiles out of the sky, but the missiles were still able to explode on top of and around the F-1s.

Four of the six fighters were ripped apart. The rest got out of the explosion range in time.

A dense wave of gunshots approached from a short distance away. Mengsk knew he couldn't let the intruders gain a foothold on Korhal, at least not without much loss. He decided to send half of his elite guards, Sons of Korhal, to the position of the breach and try to wipe out the boarding parties.

Sons of Korhal, named after the rebel group Mengsk built up against the Terran Confederacy, was an elite army that could stand toe to toe with Dominion Special Forces. Mengsk kept half of them at his royal palace as the last line of defense and sent the rest of them here.

Elite marines and marauders started beating back the S-1 striders. Their skills, cooperation, and gadgets largely mitigated the S-1 numbers. Siege tanks and goliaths took down S-1s by the dozens. A couple elite ghosts sent several EMPs into the S-1 lines and sent them crumbling to the ground. These cannonfodders weren't equipped with anti-EMP modifications.

Inside her ship, Jean watched as the unit count of the S-1s dropping from 30,000 to 27,000 to 24,000 to 19,000. The Dominion had around 5,000 men in that area initially. Most of them were slaughtered, but Dominion reinforcements were here as well. Over 3,000 Sons of Korhal and 10,000 security forces beat back the first wave of landing party.

At this rate, the Warden S-1s would be gone in half an hour. Thankfully, that was just the first wave.


	117. Chapter 117

"Second wave, go."

Another three thousand drop pods were flung out. This time, half of them were filled with more expensive S-2 units.

This time, the orbital defenses around that area were pretty much gone. F-1 fighters turned their attention to the Dominion reinforcement and started dropping torpedo after torpedo on the Sons of Korhal and Dominion security forces. Explosion after explosion tore open the Dominion lines. The elite Dominion troopers fired back and took cover, lowering their casualties as much as possible but still taking quite the losses.

The second wave landed practically uncontested. Fifteen thousand more S-1 units joined the battlefield and added to the depleted Warden numbers, but what really mattered was the six thousand S-2s.

Also, there's Kerrigan.

The Queen of Blades arrived in an Umojan drop pod. As soon as the pod hit the floor, Kerrigan ripped through the metal walls with her bare claws and charged out into the battlefield.

Almost as soon as she stepped out, a ghost shot her in the head.

Kerrigan's head barely tilted. She growled slightly before walking straight for the ghost, knocking over anyone and anything in her way. S-1 striders were simply pushed to the side. Dominion units had it worse. After Kerrigan walked past them, the Dominion units were rarely in one piece.

She crushed the ghost's psionic blade and ripped the ghost in two.

Dominion forces encountered attack from all directions. Warden reinforcement and Kerrigan slowly and steadily pushed forward. Sons of Korhal could hold their ground and fight to the last dying breath, but normal Dominion Armed Forces couldn't. Things got even worse when the battlecruisers took care of the last of the orbital defenses and moved onto the Dominion army.

Laser batteries poured down from the sky and landed in the middle of the Dominion lines. Jean ordered heavy mech and artillery to be focus fired. This meant the siege tanks and thors would be blasted by hundreds of batteries while the marines and marauders would be safe from the heavenly rage.

But without the artilleries, the Dominion couldn't hold their ground.

More Dominion reinforcement arrived, but S-2 striders held their ground. Ground to ground missiles were projected out from the side and slammed into the Dominion lines. Shrapnel shells exploded and send every terran within its blast range to the ground. Even the most elite of the Sons of Korhal couldn't take a piece of metal to the head and live. Anti-armor guns blasted through CMC armor like paper. The Warden AIs controlling the shots, and they rarely miss.

Valerian's forces took part in the war of attrition as well. Dozens of battlecruisers, in fewer numbers than those of Jean, descended on the Crown Prince's designated landing zone. Most of the Dominion forces in that vicinity were focused on Jean's assault. Before they could act, Valerian's ships took out the orbital defenses and his armed forces seized the position.

While Jean's Warden units were still exchanging punches with the best of the Dominion, Valerian's forces immediately proceeded with the plan. SCVs constructed bunkers and missile towers while dropships delivered dozens of siege tanks to the ground.

When the siege tanks entered siege mode, most of the Dominion forces were in firing range.

"Light them up." An officer ordered.

The siege tanks roared.

Following the horrifying sound of something piercing the air with incredible speed, shell after shell landed all around the Dominion forces. A squad of fifty marines just ran dozens of miles to get to the battlefield when one of the shells landed in the middle of the squad. The explosion consumed a dozen men and the shrapnel killed another dozen. The rest were wounded or knocked out. Red blood stained the muddy floor. The group of fresh reinforcement was crippled before even firing a single bullet.

A ghost sensed something. He looked up into the air briefly before his entire body disappeared, and a large pit was at where the ghost used to be.

At the beginning the Dominion continued to push forward in a futile attempt to get the filthy rebels off the planet, but as more and more shells hit the ground, the Dominion losses increased exponentially. Eventually, the common soldiers started to falter. Their footsteps toward the battlefield got slower. Their gaze grew more hesitant. The officers screamed in the radio, prompting them to go to their death quicker, but the soldiers answered with silence. It was only when the officers started to execute those who refused to go forward when the soldiers picked up their pace and tossed themselves into the meat grinder.

These men were the best of the best in terms of training, but those positioned on Korhal weren't as experienced in war and death as those positioned on Char. It has been years since Korhal was under threat, and the Korhal Defense Corps was gradually turned from an army of elite combatants to a place where soldiers who don't want to risk their lives ask to be transferred to. Plus, this was a slaughter. These men were facing the Queen of Blades and were trading life with an army of machines that knew neither fear nor pain. More importantly, they were constantly bombarded by hostile artillery from the back.

Even the Sons of Korhal were rapidly dropping in number. Their expertise didn't protect them from shells or bullets or infested-terran-ghost-hell-bent-on-avenging-dead-lover. Eventually, realizing the cause was lost, Mengsk himself ordered a retreat.

The Sons of Korhal were able to fall back with order. Some men were left to provide cover while others moved. Unfortunately, the common Dominion soldiers soon went from retreating to fleeing.

Jean didn't hesitate to push the victory.

"All S-2 striders and all intact S-1 striders maintain position around the designated area. The rest of the S-1 striders pursue the Dominion forces. Deploy wave three."

The order was carried out. The third wave, unlike the first two, was made up of dropships and even hercules. With more carrying capacity than drop pods, these transports were able to get dozens of S-3 striders to the ground. Another five thousand S-2s and ten thousand S-1s got to the ground and added to the defenses.

Meanwhile, around ten thousand S-1s, previously damaged in the battle, chased after the retreating Dominion forces. Jean had no intention of seeing them return. The Umojan factories could replace these striders in a couple days, and the third wave was enough to keep the defenses. Having these S-1s form the defenses would merely occupy precious space that could be spent on putting S-3s.

Jean might as well expand on the opportunity and trade these cannon fodders for Dominion forces.

The sea of white separated into two groups. The larger group stayed behind while the smaller group continued to advance. Without having to worry about casualties, these S-1s overwhelmed the rear guard of the retreat with sheer numbers and caught up to the Dominion retreating forces. Screams and cries filled the Dominion radio as men collapsed and died. Thanks to the CMC armors, they wouldn't get taken down by their fatigue, but some of the soldiers were injured during the previous battle, and the fractured armor and the wounds slowed them down and allowed the S-1s to slaughtered them.

Kerrigan tried to follow the pursuers when a C-1, Warden Command Unit, stopped her. The queen was covered in the blood of the Dominion units she massacred. She glanced at the C-1 unit, almost as if judging if it was friend or foe, but she restrained herself nonetheless. Nodding, she sat down, restoring her strength for a future slaughter.

The pursuers overwhelmed another fraction of several hundred Dominion forces when the sound of artillery appeared again. Only this time, the artillery came from the Dominion side.

Hundreds of cannon rounds landed among the S-1s. In the ideal case, a single round could destroy twenty S-1s. The S-1s were clumped up, and every shot dealt near maximum damage. The S-1 count dropped drastically with every explosion.

But the S-1s kept on going. Jean never gave the order to retreat, and the Warden units simply continued to carry out the last order it received.

Finally, as the dust settled, all the S-1s on the charge were destroyed. As a result, the Sons of Korhal were less than twenty percent of the number they arrived with. Out of the ten thousand Dominion Armed Forces initially on the offensive, only two thousand returned to the Dominion position.

At the end of the day, despite heavy losses on both sides, Jean was the winner. Her forces successfully established a foothold on Korhal.

* * *

For the next three days, Jean's forces continued to push forward and expand on the original foothold. First, the Fleet plowed over the Dominion position and targeted down the heavy vehicles to lower resistance for the assault. After the bombardment, Warden striders moved forward and mopped the floor, overrunning any Dominion survivors and seizing the field.

Mengsk tried to push back. On the second day, he managed to launch an offensive. Armies and armies of heavy mechanical vehicles and biological forces pushed forward on the Warden lines. Whatever fighters Mengsk had left were thrown into the battle. Their sole purpose was to distract the Umojan Fleet long enough for the ground forces to take the field.

Unfortunately, Jean saw everything from the scanners on the Umojan ravens. When the Dominion forces struck, the Wardens were ready.

F-1 fighters overwhelmed Dominion fighters and turned on the ground forces. S-3s unloaded on the Dominion with their Crucio Shock Cannons. S-1s and S-2s held their ground. The Dominion took back half the lost territories, but their losses prevented them from continuing to push forward. When the Umojan Fleet got rid of the Dominion fighters, the Dominion assault party was forced to retreat back to behind the orbital defenses, and the Wardens retook the lost territories.

Both sides took massive losses in this exchange, but the Umojan casualties were replenished in just a couple of days. The Dominion, on the other hand, were short of ammunition, equipment, and manpower. That offensive costed them more than they could afford.

The emperor's days were numbered.

* * *

Before the Dominion offensive, just as the Wardens and the Dominion fought over every inch of ground of Korhal, Nova and her special task force exited warp space near Char.

"Establish communication with General Warfield at once."

"Yes sir."

This time, unlike on Korhal, Nova was able to open up a hologram with Warfield. Staring the general in the eyes, the ghost demanded.

"General, Emperor Mengsk has summoned you and your fleet to return to Korhal to counter the zerg threat. That was a week ago. Why didn't you take action?"

Warfield frowned. "I didn't receive the order, but I will mobilize the fleet at once. Remain where you are. We will return to Korhal at once, and when we do, we will get rid of the zerg once and for all."

"Very well, general." Nova still didn't know why the Char Fleet didn't take action, but that was not as important as bringing the fleet back to Korhal and save the Dominion. A mole hunt could wait. "Be quick. Every second we waste is a second foreign invaders are ravaging our land."

Warfield nodded, but as he turned off the transmission, he immediately turned to his officers. The general hesitated for a moment before gathering the strength to speak.

"Trace the call back to the location of that Dominion ship."

The officers inside the bridge obeyed without a single question. Within minutes, they returned the coordinates back to Warfield.

The general glanced at the pair of coordinates before sending them to an unknown source.

It was too late to turn back now. Everyone inside the bridge was loyal to him. They wouldn't say anything to anyone. But if this ghost continued to press the issue, then eventually the entire fleet would know what was going on. The emperor's loyalists wouldn't hesitate to relieve him of his command and bring the Char Fleet back to Korhal.

If that happens, all would be lost. He would've committed treason and condemned tens of thousands to die for nothing.

This ghost has to die.

Nova Terra has to die.


	118. Chapter 118

At a corner of Char, a white Umojan battlecruiser lurked in the shadows.

A certain spectre sat in the bridge, and that spectre's name was Viper.

A C-1 walked up to Viper. Its metal limbs made an echoing sound as they hit the ground.

"Commander, Dominion General Warfield has sent us a pair of coordinates. It's a Dominion ship. Warfield wants you to destroy it and terminate every Dominion personnel."

"Gladly."

Viper stood up and subconsciously reached for her rifle before realizing this wasn't a mission where she needed to get all close and personal to get the job done. She relaxed and sat back down. She took a while before giving out several orders.

Jean sent Viper here to Char after receiving reports that a single Dominion ship, which Valerian recognized as his father's personal ship, managed to make it out of the blockade and jump away. At first she thought Mengsk himself fled, but a rallying speech done by the emperor just minutes later changed that idea. Mengsk wanted to reassure his men their emperor was with them. Unknowingly, by doing so, Mengsk helped Jean recognize his plan.

It was obvious. Korhal was cut off from the rest of the world. Mengsk obviously gave up his ship to make sure a messenger could get out alive. Where would that messenger go? To Davis? It was obvious the good general wasn't coming back before it's safe. Most of the other planets has fallen or were too weak to do anything. The Dominion was in conflict against most of the other terran factions in the sector. These factions would gladly sit by and see the Dominion crumble. That leaves just the Char Fleet under Warfield.

Fortunately, Jean had Warfield under her fingers. She sent Viper and a battlecruiser over and told Warfield to inform Viper after the Dominion messengers make contact with him.

C-1 Command Units were more than capable of commanding an attack on the Dominion vessel. However, Jean sent Viper because as good as she was, at this point, she wasn't able to make the command units as effective as human beings. In a large scale battle between hundreds of ships, that wasn't a problem. In a situation like this when she couldn't afford to let that single ship reach the Dominion Fleet, the risk of using C-1 units was too great. That was why Jean sent Viper here. The ghost's experience with missions like this made her an effective choice.

Thankfully, Warfield was able to keep the royal ship away from the fleet itself. This made chasing away or destroying the ship much easier.

"Affirmative." Upon receiving the orders, the C-1 turned back to the control panel of the ship. Instead of trying to pilot it like petty human beings, the Command Unit simply repeated the orders.

Within seconds, the entire ship was sprung into action.

This ship was one of the Umojan battlecruisers Jean modified into Warden capital ships. After starfighters and mechanical vehicles, Jean has turned her attention to the metal beasts that made up the bulk of the terran fleets. These B series battlecruisers had Warden AIs installed that controlled the entire ship. These ships could hold human beings, but since they didn't need to leave room for thousands crew members, they could fit in layers and layers of striders and fighters.

This battlecruiser was also a B-1 battlecruiser, designed to optimize speed and agility over armor and firepower. Its counterpart, B-2s, had more armor and firepower.

And now this ship was on the hunt.

* * *

On the other end, Nova couldn't help but frown. Something felt wrong. She knew she should be glad. The Char Fleet was coming home, and with six hundred battlecruisers, the Dominion could easily repel the invaders and the rebels.

But something seemed really wrong.

Nova stood up. She was tired of waiting. She glanced at the Dominion Fleet a distance away and felt questions rising at the bottom of her heart. "The Dominion Fleet is not moving. Establish communication with Warfield again."

"Yes sir..wait! Multiple unidentified starfighters detected around us!"

Nova charged to the scanner in front of the officer. She could see at least two dozen red dots around the blue dot that symbolized her ship.

"Sir, they are cloaked. They don't know they have been made." The officer tapped a few keys and pulled up the image of one of the unknown fighters. Nova frowned. She recognized the starfighter all too well. During the battle of Korhal, these fighters have destroyed hundreds of Dominion positions and killed countless Dominion troopers.

They belonged to the Umojans, and since they were here, it was obvious they somehow knew she was here, and they obviously weren't here to say hi.

Whoever the mole is in the Char Fleet, he not only cut off the communication between the fleet and Korhal but also knew she was coming and tipped off the Umojans.

But she only told General Warfield…

Nova shook her head and shut that thought out. Now wasn't the time.

"Bring us to the Fleet!" She ordered. As for the moment, her ship was a distance away from the Dominion fortress because she didn't trust the mole in the Dominion Fleet, who might be quite influential. She also didn't expect the Dominion Fleet to take this long to be ready for action, nor did she think the Umojans might try to attack just under the nose of six hundred Dominion battlecruisers. "Ask Warfield to send reinforcement!"

The royal ship suddenly accelerated and darted past the F-1 fighters and out of the ambush. The F-1 fighters weren't caught by surprise as they simply turned around and started pursuing. Their laser batteries and air to air torpedoes were unloaded onto the royal ship like they were on sale.

"They must have some sort of detection." Plan A, sending in twelve cloaked F-1s and blast the royal ship out of the sky with the element of surprise, failed. Viper wasn't surprised. All she knew was it's time for Plan B. "Send in the reserves."

Three more squads of F-1s, previously positioned in key positions by Viper, converged toward the ship from all directions. One of the squads was put between the Dominion fortress and the royal ship as a body shield. As they charged head on toward the royal ship, all the ships opened fire.

The royal ship retaliated. A triple layered defensive matrix surrounded the ship. Four twin cannons blasted orange bolts of plasma, forcing the F-1s to dodge.

Another round of missiles was launched, and this time the royal ships were too close to dodge all of them. Countless missiles and lasers slammed into the defensive matrix, but the matrix survived, and so did the ship.

"We're down to 80% shields! 78%! 76." The percentage kept on dropping as more and more shots landed on the ship.

"Sir, I can't reach Warfield!" The communication officer has been attempting to contact the Char Fleet since the ship was under attack, but he didn't receive anything. "I tried to go directly for the Fleet, but they're compromised as well!"

Not being able to reach Warfield from Korhal was easily explainable, but not being able to reach him this close to his ship...there was only a couple ways to explain this. Combined with the fact that their track was given to the enemies…

"Warfield has betrayed the emperor." Nova concluded, somewhat too late.

"Sir, we don't have the firepower to get to the Dominion fortress and arrest Warfield."

Nova remained silent. She had her orders to bring back the fleet and terminate anyone who stopped her, but she knew if she pushed forward, she would no doubt perish before she could complete her mission. The shield level was already down to 57%, and it was dropping quicker and quicker.

If she remained, she would die pointlessly.

Finally, she made up his mind.

"Abort this mission. Engage jump drives."

A few seconds later, the royal ship jumped into warp space. Missiles and plasma bolts flew through where the ship was moments ago and dotted toward the F-1 fighters on the other side. It took a few seconds for the F-1s to sort this mess out.

Nova and her team survived, but her mission failed miserably. Half the Dominion Fleet was still stranded on Char, and Korhal was already at its last days.

* * *

"Hold your ground! For the emperor!" A Dominion officer screamed as his position was overwhelmed by a swarm of S-1s and S-2s. A shrapnel grenade exploded beside him and ended his duty.

Lead by Kerrigan, the Warden horde started moving out of the initial landing zone and engulfing surrounding territories. Dominion forces fought bravely and didn't give off an inch of ground without a fight, but despite frequent small victories throughout the planet, mostly in urban battlefields where the Warden units were more clumsy than biological Dominion soldiers, the Dominion was losing the war. When a day's fighting was over, when the Dominion cheered over killing thousands of striders, Jean simply replaced those striders and kept on attacking.

Casualties were sky high when Valerian found Jean.

"We can't keep this up anymore. Too many people have died. There are over a million Dominion soldiers on Korhal. We can't kill them all."

"We can, but I have an idea." Over the two weeks of attack, the combined fleet has slaughtered over one hundred thousand Dominion soldiers. If Jean kept this going, eventually she could seize victory, but she wouldn't complain if there can be a better idea. In a sense, killing Dominion soldiers was like killing her own future assets.

Hours later, Umojan battlecruisers unloaded thousands of projectiles toward Korhal. Instead of hitting the ground and exploding into a ball of flames, these missiles exploded in midair and sent countless pieces of modified paper across the planet.

These papers detailed the crimes of Arcturus Mengsk against humanity, including using the zerg against the Confederacy, abandoning his own people(Kerrigan) to the zerg and therefore creating the Queen of Blades, and allowing the zerg to expand freely when he had a chance to strike them down. They also contained promises from Valerian that granted full pardon to all Dominion soldiers as long as they laid down their arms.

It worked like magic. As prosperous as the Dominion was, it was only there for a handful of years. Most people who served the Dominion didn't do so out of blind, unconditional loyalty. They did so because they had no other choice. The Dominion offered protection, and most people joined to keep themselves and their families safe in this age of chaos. Others joined to fight the zerg. When the combined fleet came, most of the Dominion forces resisted because they were given such orders and because they didn't want to risk having their families slaughtered in the war.

But Valerian's promises changed things. Self preservation now acted as a reason to give up resistance, especially since it was obvious defeat was imminent. On the back of the papers, Valerian _kindly_ mapped out the current situation and how Mengsk's fall was imminent. Only fools would fight for a lost cause, especially when they could live by dropping their arms. Valerian was known for being an honest person. His promise meant something.

Those who opposed the zerg changed their mind as well. Valerian used the Swarm against the Dominion, but his father also used the zerg against the Confederacy. In comparison, Valerian only used the zerg against the Dominion fleets while Arcturus ruthlessly unleashed those beasts on the civilian population of Tarsonias. It was obvious who was better. In case people didn't understand all the sides of the problem, Valerian mapped them out as well.

The Warden forces pushed forward, ignoring the Dominion soldiers who surrendered. Within just hours, they covered more ground than they did for the past week. A few Dominion garrisons that remained loyal to their emperor were easily wiped out.

Seeing the battle was lost, Arcturus pulled whatever forces he had left back to the Royal Palace and attempted to make a last stand.


	119. Chapter 119

Korhal.

Most of the planet has gone quiet. Occasionally, a series of gunshots would pop up at a small corner of the city, but those gunshots would quickly by covered by a much more intense wave of gunfire and then go silent. The first wave of gunshots came from some resistors that remained loyal to their emperor, but their resistance was futile.

Thousands of Warden units converged on the Royal Palace, where Emperor Mengsk himself resided in. This was the last Dominion position that was still resisting, but that would change soon.

Inside the palace, Emperor Mengsk stood in front of the window. Compared to a few days ago, he was alone. In just several days, he has lost everything. His army crumbled. His fleet disappeared. His empire fell. Even his generals returned to their forces to "make a last stand". In reality, ghost operatives reported these generals have ordered their forces to cease fire and allow the Warden units to pass. A number of them have sworn their allegiance to Valerian Mengsk. The Crown Prince gladly accepted it. He wouldn't be a good emperor if he didn't have any followers.

In other words, they have turned against their leader in exchange for a place in the new government.

Mengsk was angry. He considered sending his ghosts to assassinate those traitors, but he wasn't exactly rich on forces. He needed every men inside the palace. The only thing he could do was swear to execute all those generals if he survives this.

A radio broadcasted a horrified voice.

"Your grace! The rebels have breached the third line of defense! Kerrigan is leading the charge. We can't stop her!"

The speaker was a colonel inside the Sons of Korhal. Even during the moment where everything went wrong, the men from Mengsk's personal guards remained loyal. Unfortunately, their loyalty wasn't enough to make up for their disadvantage. They were trapped inside a close location with little to no artillery, heavy armor, or air support. They had no reinforcement or even hope. This was the very definition of a last stand.

Mengsk sighed. He had a total of five lines of defenses. With 60% of the defenses gone, his death was closing in.

But he still had a chance. The emperor looked down on a device in his grip.

"Colonel, order all units to focus fire on the Umojan units."

The Sons of Korhal colonel nodded slowly. He knew what the order meant. Kerrigan was barely forced back if the Sons of Korhal focused fire on her. If the Dominion used whatever weapon they had on the terran units, it meant Kerrigan would have free reign over the battlefield. It would be a massacre.

But orders were orders.

"Yes sir...take care, sir."

Mengsk was dead silent as the radio went silent.

Two minutes later, the third line was gone. All Dominion units on site perished alongside their position.

One minute later, the fourth line reported engaging the enemy.

Five minutes later, the fourth line was gone.

Two minutes later, the fifth, and last, line was under attack.

Six minutes later, the last layer of Dominion forces fell.

Forty seconds later, Mengsk heard the two marines at the door scream before going silent.

Something went through the metal blast door and started ripping it apart. Mengsk took a deep breath before speaking into the seemingly empty room.

"You know your mission."

There was no response.

The door kept on being ripped apart. Finally, with one swift turn, the several meter thick blast door was completely wrecked.

Outside, a handful of Warden units stood behind Kerrigan, who just dealt with the blast door that could've delayed the Warden units for quite a while. The Warden units included a single C-1, as well as a handful of S-2s and two dozen S-1s. The thousands of Sons of Korhal all across the palace took down most of the Warden advance party with them to their graves. Reinforcements were coming up, but it would take them at least a couple minutes to arrive.

"Reinforcement inbound. Patience is advised. Risk unnecessary." The C-1 warned.

Kerrigan groaned. The AI had a point, but it failed to take her emotions into consideration. She hated Mengsk. She hated Mengsk to the bottom of her heart. Sweet, sweet vengeance was just a few meters away. She couldn't wait. She just couldn't. Letting Mengsk remain in this second one more second than what's necessary was a _sin_.

"Prepare to attack." She merely commanded.

The C-1 gave appropriate orders. Its order was to assist Kerrigan. That was it. It could give advice, but Kerrigan had the ultimate authority.

Taking a deep breathe to calm herself, Kerrigan screamed and charged into the room. The Warden units followed right behind her.

As soon as Kerrigan entered, dozens of EMP came out from the shadows and smashed into the intruders. Kerrigan shrugged off the effect, but she quickly realized her followers didn't share the same luck.

All the Warden units collapsed. Electric sparks exploded all around their mechanical bodies. The C-1 had better resistance to EMPs compared to normal striders, but that didn't protect them from this many EMPs either. The C-1 was completely fried.

The Queen of Blades was all of a sudden alone, but she wasn't afraid. After the initial surprise, she retaliated. Immediately, all the dozen or so ghosts inside the throne room were ripped out of cloaking mode. Their bodies disintegrated as Kerrigan slammed down with her power. Within just two seconds, the ghosts were reduced to a mixture of flesh and armor.

With the last of the defenders gone, Kerrigan turned to the man in the middle of the room.

Arcturus Mengsk.

"Do you really think those ghosts could have stopped me?"

Mengsk smirked. Strangely, he showed no sign of fear. "No."

"Yet you let those ghosts try anyways. Do their lives really mean nothing to you?"

"Why the sentiment, Kerrigan? You have killed billions of my kind. Why mourn about some random ghost?"

Kerrigan tilted her head. She admitted she was being a little sentiment. Those ghosts were sent to die by Mengsk, just like she was years ago. In a moment like this, it made her want to say something. Still, she recollected herself.

"Ready to die?" She asked while mentally coming up with a way to kill Mengsk. The fact that Mengsk didn't look afraid made her frown a little, but she didn't know what Mengsk still had up his sleeve, and she didn't bother to care.

"Die?"

The Dominion emperor repeated before suddenly pulling out a device from his belt and pushing down on a button. Kerrigan's eyes widened as she tried to stop Mengsk, but two gauss machine gun barrels appeared out of the two walls on the side and started blasting at Kerrigan.

Kerrigan ripped the trap apart. Unfortunately, by the time she was done, a familiar device glowing in blue light was between her and Mengsk.

The Xel'naga Keystone.

The Keystone was on. Kerrigan screamed as she felt her zerg side burning. Her knees buckled and she collapsed on the floor. Usually, she could snap her fingers and kill Mengsk, but with the Keystone in the room, she was barely stronger than a marine.

On the other side of the room, Mengsk couldn't help but let out a proud grin.

He was never a sitting duck. If he saw a chance, he would seize it.

What happened with the Char Fleet and the Korhal Defense Fleet and all the generals was painful, but while he was angered by the losses, he gathered whatever information he had and tried to seek another way to victory. Say what you want about Mengsk. He does not give up.

Mengsk knew that, for some reason, probably to make it easier to unite the Dominion people after the war, Valerian and his allies didn't use the Swarm on Korhal. This meant the Swarm Fleet would be in the air, probably close to the Umojan and Valerian's fleet.

Another thing. Kerrigan was spotted in the field leading the charge against the Dominion. Knowing Kerrigan and her past with him, Mengsk knew Kerrigan would no doubt lead the assault on his royal palace.

This opened up the opportunity for him to use the Keystone on the Queen of Blades herself.

Ideally, the Keystone would either kill Kerrigan or turn her back to human. Either way, the entire Swarm would lost their leader. No longer being controlled, the Swarm would go feral and turn on everyone and everything around them. In other words, ideally, the Swarm Fleet would turn on the Umojans and Valerian's fleet.

With Kerrigan gone and the invading fleet either turned rogue or being destroyed in the sudden betrayal of the Swarm, Mengsk could mount up an offensive and wipe out the invaders once and for all. He was sure he could deal with the turncoats either by convincing them to return to his side or by simply eliminating them. If the tide was turned, Davis would no doubt return with whatever ships she could find. At the end of the day, despite all the losses, he would still be the emperor of the Terran Dominion, and his enemies would be hunted down and slaughtered.

It sounded like an easy plan, but Mengsk put a lot of work into it. For one thing, Kerrigan was surrounded by Warden units. If these Warden units were around when the trap was sprung, they could simply gun down either him or the Keystone or maybe both. Even a single S-1 could ruin his grand plan.

To solve that problem, Mengsk ordered his forces to focus on the Wardens. It worked, the Warden count was cut to such a point that his last group of ghosts completely wiped them out. If Kerrigan was a little more cautious and decided to wait a few more minutes for reinforcement, Mengsk would be truly hopeless.

Nonetheless, at the end of the day, Kerrigan wasn't that cautious. That was why she found herself on the ground with her nemesis in front of her but not being able to do anything.

The emperor took a few seconds to calm himself. The sudden transition from about to die to about to go back to the height of his power was enough to make someone as cold blooded as him satisfied. He looked down at Kerrigan for a few more seconds before pressing down on the button, increasing the power output of the Keystone. He needed Kerrigan dead ASAP.

Suddenly, the sound of metal footsteps approached.

Mengsk's heart sank as he turned and found a single S-1 strider at the door.

"Nooooo!" The emperor's eyes widened as he screamed and drew his sidearm. He was this close to winning. _This close!_ Give him a few more seconds and the Queen of Blades would be dead! He couldn't lose now…

The autocannons from the S-1 fired.

Mengsk hit the floor. A large hole appeared in his chest. His Keystone controller hit the ground, bounced, and landed in front of Kerrigan. With all the strength she had left, Kerrigan grabbed onto the controller and tapped the other key on it. She didn't know for sure it was the off switch, but it was the only other choice aside from the on switch and she didn't exactly have time to hesitate. Her gamble worked. The container of the Keystone surrounded the artifact again and sealed it off from the outside world.

Kerrigan stood back up.

Mengsk coughed. He was dying. The autocannon blasted through his unprotected chest and went all the way through. The only thing keeping him alive was the will to live, but that was disappearing as well.

But he wasn't willing to admit defeat. His plan worked! The Queen of Blades was on her knees! She should be dead! The Swarm should be ravaging through his enemies! _He_ should be the victor!

More importantly, this was not how he expected to die. Getting killed by Kerrigan? It's not ideal, but it's fine. But getting killed by a random Umojan cannon fodder? What the hell?

Mengsk tried to scream, to rage, but all his strength disappeared. His conscious gradually disappeared as he faded into darkness.

Kerrigan gripped her fist tight in front of Mengsk's corpse. This veagence didn't feel as sweet as she expected. Nonetheless, it was over.

She waved her hand, obliterated Mengsk's corpse, before leaving the throne room.


	120. Chapter 120

Following the end of the Battle of Korhal and the death of Emperor Arcturus Mengsk, former Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk rose to the seat of the emperor. All the Dominion forces that remained on Korhal pledged their allegiance to their new emperor. General Warfield and the Char Fleet returned to Korhal and merged into the reformed Dominion. Unsurprisingly, General Davis and the fleet of hundred or so battlecruisers she managed to gather from the Dominion planets that survived the Swarm yielded as well. Valerian allowed most of those that surrendered, including both Davis and Warfield, to keep their power.

Of course, there were dissenters. Loyalists of the former emperor continued their attempts to assassinate Valerian, but all of those attempts suffered failure at the hands of Viper and the squad of Warden G-1 spec-ops units that Jean sent to protect Valerian. In one attempt, Nova and four Dominion ghosts who were still programmed to serve Arcturus Mengsk attempted to assassinate Valerian. They were discovered and ambushed. Nova was captured and her fellow ghosts were either captured or killed.

Kerrigan returned to Char and continued to expand her forces. With Mengsk gone, she seemed aimless for a while, but she quickly turned her attention to Amon. The two were inherently opposing because Kerrigan knew Amon controlled her when she was the original Queen of Blades, and after the Keystone, she was no longer under the influence. Being controlled was hardly something to let go.

Jean went back to Umoja and continued to expand her forces. More and more battlecruisers were modified to B-1 and B-2 Warden vessels. The proportion of Warden units in the Umojan army continued to grow. Jean was gradually turning the Umojan forces into Warden forces.

Everything seemed to be peaceful, but there was one battle going on…

Twenty four carriers and one mothership jumped into what seemed like the middle of nowhere.

"Executor, our scouts have located the hostile terran platform."

"Engage the hostile. Terminate all opposition and destroy the platform." Delta commanded from the middle of the mothership flagship.

While Jean was dealing with the Dominion, Delta and the Purifier Fleet focused on hunting down Dr. Narud. The disguised servant of Amon himself possessed psionic power enough to challenge Kerrigan at the height of her power. In the original history, the Moebius Corps and the hybrids Narud bred were two of Amon's sharpest blades.

Delta wanted to terminate both of them before they gained most of their strength.

Narud and the Moebius Foundation was under the protection of the Dominion. After Delta destroyed a series of Moebius platforms with deadly firepower, Arcturus Mengsk sent three fleets to protect the main Moebius platform, which held both Narud and most of the breeding hybrids. The location of the platform was also highly classified. Delta was only able to take down a few minor platforms but couldn't locate the real prize.

Luckily, after the fall of Korhal, Jean got the coordinates of the platform and sent them to Delta.

A couple of days ago, not long after the death of the emperor, Valerian tried to recall the three fleets that protected the platform, but there was no response. In fact, even during the battle of Korhal, Arcturus Mengsk attempted to recall the three fleets multiple times. None of the attempts worked.

Perhaps these Dominion ships didn't receive the order. Perhaps they have been controlled by Narud and the hybrids. It doesn't matter. The gain in destroying Narud and hundreds of hybrids was enough to cancel out the loss of three fleets. Jean ordered the hit on the platform with barely any hesitation.

The carriers fanned out and approached the platform.

* * *

"Twenty four carriers. One mothership." Narud whispered as he opened his eyes.

Too soon. The attack came too soon. After he heard Korhal was under siege and its fall was imminent, Narud recognized he could no longer get any help from Mengsk. He didn't hesitate to break his ties with the Dominion and free the dozens of hybrids that have already been created. Once unleashed, these hybrids ravaged through the minds of the Dominion forces securing the platform. Ordinary human beings didn't stand a chance against hybrids. The few ghosts were slaughtered. Within hours, the three Dominion fleets and the tens of thousands of ground forces around the platform were enslaved. They were brainwashed and their allegiance turned from the Dominion to the Moebius Corps.

The fall of the Dominion was unexpected. Its demise cut off Narud and his plan of the massive funding they desperately needed. If Narud was given some time, he could still complete the creation of nearly two hundred hybrids that he has been working on for months. Hundreds of hybrids was an army that could wipe out any hostile ground army.

But now, with just a handful of hybrids and three terran fleets, Narud didn't think he could hold the platform, especially against a protoss fleet this large.

The undercover Xel'naga has heard reports of fellow Moebius platforms being attacked and wiped out by a mysterious yellow protoss fleet, but he didn't think his platform's location would be compromised. As far as he knew, those coordinates were top secret information. Only Mengsk's private database held that information. If Korhal fell to the zerg and other terran factions, there's no reason that protoss fleet can get those coordinates, right?

He quickly realized his mistake.

The three fleets remained within the range of the platform's orbital defenses. It was a normal thing to do for the side being outgunned. Unfortunately, the Purifier fleet didn't give a damn about that. Hundreds of thousands of interceptors were flung out toward the hostiles like they were free. The Moebius opened fire freely. A fraction of the interceptors fell by the time the interceptors reached the battlecruisers, but the rest struck nonetheless.

Countless laser blasts ripped through the meters of armor of battlecruisers. The weapon system, the warp drive, and the bridge were under the most heavy attack. Laser batteries started blasting, but the number of interceptors they took down was nothing compared to the full interceptor swarm.

Battlecruisers started to fall apart. A Minotaur was the first. Another made the second. A Gorgon was the fifth.

But the Moebius held their ground. They were so brainwashed that they saw death as a gift. Crew members remained in their positions until the last moment and died with a smile, not that it made a difference to the entire battle. Marines and marauders inside fractured ships literally leaped out the openings into space and tried to shoot at the carriers with their gauss guns and grenade launchers. To their credit, they took down a dozen interceptors.

As the carriers were caught up with the battlecruisers, Delta decided she couldn't afford to wait.

Her flagship blinked into the battlefield. Its purification beams started blasting, and the interceptors and mirages it carried joined the battle to accelerate the demise of the Moebius Corps, but the mothership itself moved toward the space platform itself.

"Focus on that protoss capital ship!" Narud could sense a huge wave of energy converging on the mothership. Whatever these protoss wanted to do, it wasn't good.

All the platform's orbital cannons turned their attention to the mothership. Shell after shell landed on top of the mothership's plasma shield and evaporated without a trace. Multiple battlecruisers literally charged toward the mothership with no intention of stopping. Their plan was to simply ram into the mothership and use the kamikaze attack to either destroy the ship or weaken the shield enough for the rest of their brothers to finish the job.

The mothership didn't give the enemies any chance. Tanking all the attacks, the mothership reached and parked straight above the platform. Yellow energy from the crystals powering the mothership were channeled to the bottom of the ship and were poured into the weapon system.

Finally, after a battlecruiser charged into the plasma shield of the mothership and got completely melted, everything was ready.

"Purify them." Delta said concisely.

The purification beam of the mothership slammed down on the platform. Within seconds, the platform disintegrated. The marines, marauders, and siege tanks on the surface of the platform evaporated. Armor or flesh, everything was reduced to ashes, which were then reduced to basic atoms.

Hybrids lived a little longer, but it wasn't necessarily a good thing. These foul creatures screeched sharply in the flames and the heat, wanting to destroy someone or something, but there was no enemy as far as they could reach.

The bombardment continued for two minutes. By the time the purification beam was turned off, the platform, along with Narud's hybrid army and body in the material world, was gone.

Purification...complete.

* * *

The Void.

Outside of the material world, the void was the home of the Xel'naga. Its nature of existence made the void deadly to voyagers from the material world. Any terran, zerg, or protoss that set foot inside the void would find himself being ripped apart. A marine would be dead in minutes. A battlecruiser could survive longer, but it was on a timer as well.

After executing almost all of his fellow Xel'naga when they were in hibernation, Amon twisted the void energy and used them to forge armies and armies of Void Shades. Also known as shadows of the void, these entities mimicked the form of units in the material world from all three races. However, inside the void, these void shades could be twice as powerful as their ordinary counterparts. They were faster, stronger, and killing a void shade marine was much more difficult than killing an ordinary marine.

After Xel'nagas were killed inside the material world, they would be revived inside the void. Inside the home field of the void, Xel'nagas could be multiple times stronger than they were in the Koprulu sector.

Narud opened all several dozens of his eyes.

His real form was a giant beast with multiple limbs. His entire body radiated in red and black from the void energy, just like every other entity inside the void. Regaining his mind, he subconsciously growled. Getting evaporated by a purification beam to the face was a stupid way to die. In a fair fight, he was sure he could wipe out an army just by himself, but what happened was everything but a fair fight. The protoss didn't even attempt to land on the platform. All the precious hybrids Narud had died just like those pathetic terran cannon fodders.

But what happened was less important than what he needed to do next.

 _"My master…"_ He communicated psionically.

The response was late and slow. Narud could tell the responder was annoyed. This thought made him shiver.

" _Narud…_ " Amon hissed. His real form was half the Void away, but Narud felt like his master was right beside him. "You shouldn't be here…"

"My master. Forgive me, but there were some...complications." Narud did his best to make what happened sound better than what really happened. "Our ally in the material world was destroyed. Our platform was ruined."

Amon's voice sounded cold and emotionless, but that was what made Narud shiver more. He has seen Amon slaughter the other Xel'naga without a scent of mercy or sympathy. The dark god wasn't afraid of having the blood of his own kind on his hand. He only let Narud live because he saw some use in Narud. If Amon felt Narud has outlived his usage…

"And my hybrids?" As a practical god, Amon didn't care about his underlings in the three races. Neither the Moebius Corps nor the Tal'darim meant more to him than a mean to an end. He could care less about their demise. After all, his plan was world destruction. Hybrids were a different story. Modeled after Amon himself, hybrids were the warriors Amon really relied on.

"They're...gone."

" _Gone_?" Narud felt the Void around him closing in. His mind turned as he did his best to save himself from his master's wrath.

"Forgive me, my master! Give me another chance..."

The Void remained silent for a while.

"Your chance is already here." Instead of giving Narud a slow and painful death, Amon said something that surprised Narud. "I have been scouring through the Khala of the protoss, and I have sensed something...troubling. Someone knows about my plan."

"What?" This time Narud was really shocked. Even after his defeat at the hand of the Purifier fleet, Narud thought he was targeted because his goons kidnapped templar to turn them into hybrids, not because the protoss knew who he really was or what he really wanted to do. If his real plan got out, he and Amon would be the enemy of the sector. Taking down a united enemy was much tougher than taking down one that wasn't aware of what was going on at all. "We must act now…"

"I have already acted. While your foolishness costed me my armies, I have made preparations to seize the so called Golden Armada."

"How may I serve, my master?"

Amon smirked, if giant alien gods could smirk.

"Go to Aiur…"


	121. Chapter 121

Twilight Council. Aiur.

Hierarch Artanis tapped his forehead as he listened to the complaints and doubts of half the council. After the Aiur protoss took shelter on Shakuras, the Conclave was replaced by the Twilight Council. It not only included the Nerazim protoss but also a number of younger, more open minded protoss that advocated for change. In most cases, Artanis trusted the Twlight Council to stand by him.

Unfortunately, this time the council was completely divided. After Artanis released the recording Delta showed him, even the most radical protoss questioned him and what he was suggesting. To most of the protoss in the council, they have relied on their nerve cord their entire life. They couldn't imagine what they would be without their nerve cords. For millions of years, anyone that questioned the Khala was deemed a heretic and persecuted. This was how the Nerazim protoss formed. After Artanis suggested that the Khala might be compromised, a few zealots almost drew their blades. The rest were slightly calmer, but the emphasis was on "slightly".

Mohandar of the Nerazim protoss walked up behind Artanis. Several centuries old, Mohandar was a close friend to both Hierarch Artanis and former Matriarch Raszagal. He was also the teacher of now Matriarch Vorazun. With Vorazun being on Shakuras leading the bulk of the Nerazim, he was stationed here to remain as a bridge between the Khalai and the Nerazim. He glanced down at the Twilight Council with somewhat annoyance.

"It's ironic that the Khala, designed to unite your people, is in fact dividing it."

"I have no choice." Artanis replied slowly. "What that Purifier showed me...it was real, and if the information we are given is true, the Daelaam is in great danger. I cannot turn a blind eye against an impending threat."

"And you think you can convince your people to do what our ancestors did thousands of years ago?"

"I must try." Artanis sighed. "We must act soon. If the Purifier is right, we don't have much time."

Truth to be told, if Artanis was given some more time, perhaps he could turn the Daelaam against Amon. But what's done is done. By warning the Daelaam, Delta had a chance to turn them to her side, but it also warned Amon that his plan didn't go undetected. In other words, he must strike as soon as possible.

In high orbit of the planet, a carrier pilot suddenly groaned as he clutched onto his head. A surge of red energy appeared at the tip of his nerve cord and started advancing toward the rest of his body. As the void energy moved, it ate away at the templar's mind. Realizing something was off, the templar tried to shout a warning through the Khala, but nothing came through. Desperate but not paralyzed, he reached for his backup comm.

"This is high templar Jisad..." His voice slowly went quieter and quieter.

"Templar? State your request." A Khalai was on the other side.

The comm remained silent for two seconds.

"Forgive me, brother, it's nothing."

Without waiting for a response, Jisad shut off the comm. The void energy has already consumed his brain and completely turned him. Within half a minute, his entire body was covered by red. His ordinary psionic energy was turned to void energy.

The zealot at the other end of the emergency comm frowned. He thought about it for a few seconds, wondering if he should report this, but that was when he felt something off with his nerve cord...

All across Aiur, Khalai protoss were corrupted. Pilots. Zealots. Phase Smiths. Every single protoss with a nerve cord found their very being under siege.

Inside the Twilight Council, Artanis hit the ground, groaning. Amon's corruption couldn't be completely deflected by the willpower of the victims, but it could be delayed. The stronger the protoss was mentally, the longer they could maintain their selves. Unfortunately, by longer, it was no more than a few minutes. As the head of the Daelaam, Artanis didn't exactly lack willpower.

Mohander knelt down beside him. His eyes shined in worry. "Hierarch? Artanis? What's wrong?" He glanced around the council and realized every single Khalai protoss was down. The relatively few Nerazim looked at each other in confusion.

Unfortunately, not every protoss was as strong as Artanis was. Within seconds, a dozen Daelaam rose again, covered in red. Most of them were zealots, but two high templars fell victim as well.

"Templars! Are you alright?" The Nerazim looked at each other, not knowing what to do. If they were facing Tal'darim, they would've struck already, but these zealots and templars were their brothers and sisters just moments ago.

Mohandar, as highest ranking official standing, slowly approached the corrupted Khalai. He didn't know what happened. All he knew was those Khalai templar were covered by the familiar void energy. This shouldn't be happening. Something was terribly wrong. He turned around to the dark templars. "Alert Matriarch Vorazun and all the Nerazim on this planet…"

Before he could finish, all the Khalai templars charged toward him with crimson blades ignited.

"Stay back!" Taken by surprise, the elderly protoss wasn't completely defenseless. His warp blade was ignited and skillfully deflected all of the void blades, but that wasn't the end. All around, countless templar stood back up. They didn't hesitate to strike their weapons toward the Nerazim.

The Nerazim were taken by surprise. They were also outnumbered from the very beginning. Dozens of them fell in just seconds. The rest resisted, but they were gradually overwhelmed.

Mohandar's eyes were filled with rage. He turned to the entrance of the council.

"Guards!"

Twenty zealots charged in. Only problem: They were also wielding red blades.

Another dark templar screamed and collapsed. Mohendar knew he must do something. He waved his hand and, with most of his void energy, sent the majority of the Khalai in the room into a void prison. This ability was similar to a stasis field in that those imprisoned were frozen for a while. This gave Mohendar the opportunity to blink to beside Artanis. At the heat of the moment, he knew he needed to take the leader of the Daelaam out of danger. Only then could he move to resolve whatever caused this atrocity to happen.

"Artanis!" He said loudly, glancing around the council. A couple Nerazim held back the few Khalai that weren't imprisoned by Mohendar. "Can you hear me?"

Artanis nodded.

"Praise Adun! Now, listen to me…Uh!"

A crimson void blade pierced through Mohendar's chest. The elder dark templar stared at Artanis in disbelief.

Artanis looked up. When his head was lowered, Mohendar couldn't see it, but now, he saw Artanis' eyes were shining in red light...just like all those corrupted Khalai.

The hierarch's voice was low.

"Amon's wrath will consume the sector, and we, the Firstborn, will be his blade…"

Mohendar's body started fading away as his mind sank into an endless pit of darkness.

* * *

When Artanis walked out of the council, the game was already over.

The entirety of the Golden Armada fell in just minutes. 1,200 ships turned from blue to red in an astonishing speed. There was a number of Nerazim personnel and vessels on Aiur. They were immediately targeted by the Golden Armada. Orbital cannons and corrupted templar decimated the ground targets while phoenixes and scouts gunned down Nerazim ships in the ports. Their killing was made insanely efficient via coordination of the Khala. When the dust settled, not a single Nerazim notified Shakuras of what happened here.

A command was relayed to Artanis. The rogue hierarch walked to an open field covered by the power field of a pylon. A few phase smiths have already modified the pylon so their power field could be used to transport non-protoss personnel.

He didn't have to wait long. Dozens of light beams dropped down from the sky and into the power field. When the dust cleared, Artanis found himself facing over thirty hybrids. One of the hybrids was in front of the others. It was obviously stronger, larger, faster, and more importantly, more intelligent, than the rest.

"Artanis...my name is Narud, and by orders of Amon, I am here to oversee the Golden Armada and ensure it can carry out my master's wish." The hybrid spoke slowly.

Narud's former body, that of Dr. Emil Narud, was destroyed on the Moebius platform. This forced Narud to enter the material world in a less elegant meat suit. He took control of one of the last hybrids he had and joined the Golden Armada with whatever was left of his hybrid legion.

"Amon's will is my decree." Artanis bowed.

"Very well." Narud nodded. "Ready your armada."

"Gladly, but where shall we strike?"

Narud response was full of hatred.

"The terran world...of Umoja."

* * *

Although it might seem otherwise, Narud was a seasoned military commander. Millions of years old, he has more experience with war than any other player in the sector. This experience was hardly demonstrated when he stood against Delta and the Purifiers, where his forces were simply outnumbered and outgunned. No amount of tactical skill could save him when his enemy could simply walk over his fleet and burn his fortress to dust. This time, with the backing of the Golden Armada, Narud was finally able to demonstrate his capabilities.

First, he sent out observers and scanned everything within a decent radius of the planet. He knew the Purifiers knew about Amon's plan and were actively trying to stop him. They even warned the Daelaam. There was more than enough reason to suspect they kept an eye on Aiur.

Just like he suspected, Khalai observers located hundreds of Purifier observers. Instead of having these observers shot down, Narud had the best of the Khalai phase smiths hack into the control system of those observers and make it look like everything was normal.

Then, Narud made sure the Golden Armada could be in the perfect position. He ordered a squad of Aiur avengers to travel to Umoja in a modified covert vessel. Aiur avengers were Khalai templar who embraced the darkness and the void energy in an attempt to retake the glory of the old protoss empire. They were similar to dark templars except they had nerve cords. Unfortunately, this difference made them pawns of Amon.

The squad of avengers acted carefully and away from Umojan patrols. Their job wasn't to sabotage Umojan defenses. It was too risky. Instead, they planted down a series of location beacons near Umoja. They also confirmed all the coordinates. Everything they did was to make sure the Golden Armada could jump in as close to the Umojans as possible and take them by complete surprise.

Communication was an important part of war. The Khala had a limited range and Umoja was half the sector away from Aiur. This meant those fighting on Umoja couldn't be connected to those back on Aiur. This might be a weakness abused by the enemies of the Golden Armada, so Narud ordered the construction of a highway of phase arrays between the two planets. All of these arrays were constructed on deserted, uninhabited planets and were protected by a sea of static defenses.

All the preparation took several days. Meanwhile, to make sure the Golden Armada could focus on the front, Artanis took the bulk of the Golden Armada to Shakuras and struck the Nerazim Fleet with full element of surprise. The Nerazim Fleet was almost wiped out. Hundreds of void rays burned in orbit. Finally, Vorazun and her shadow guards led an assault on the Golden Armada ships from the inside. They laid waste to a handful of carriers that pursued too close and managed to cover the retreat of a portion of the Nerazim people. Unfortunately, most of the Nerazim still perished when the Golden Armada literally burned Shakuras to the ground. Vorazun made it out after losing almost all of her elite guards.

At the end of the day, when the Golden Armada was ready to set sail for Umoja, Narud has made sure everything was on his side.

He didn't manage to play everyone in the sector against each other by being a fool.


	122. Chapter 122

A rag tagged terran fleet sailed across a barren part of the sector.

Several hours ago, the entire Golden Armada jumped into right beside the main Umojan port where the majority of the Umojan Fleet was parked. The Umojans detected the attackers, but it was too late. When all the crew members got into position and the battlecruisers were set off the dock, when the orbital cannons of all the defense platforms started turning, the Daelaam were already here.

A thousand ships opened fire at the same moment. The Umojan Fleet burned. Their three hundred or so battlecruisers were overwhelmed by the Golden Armada by over four to one. Not to mention every Daelaam carrier could take down at least three battlecruisers. It wasn't nearly a fair fight.

In ten minutes, the Umojan Fleet was in pieces. Hundreds of ships crumbled in a wave of lasers. Platforms were peeled away as those on it were evaporated. A squad of Gorgon battlecruisers managed to hold their ground for a while, but whatever tiny hope they had disappeared when the Golden Armada flagship, a mothership the size of a city, floated over.

Its speed was slow compared to the ship's size, but in fact it was as fast as a viking.

When the mothership got close enough, power fields were projected onto all the Gorgon ships. Tens of thousands of zealots materialized inside the ships and raised their crimson blades on the defenseless Umojan crew members. Marines and marauders that attempted to stop them were slaughtered. In a sea of war cries, the zealots painted the walls of the battlecruisers red with blood.

At that time, Jean, who was on Umoja, reacted as quickly as she could. Orbital defense and ground forces were assembled. Siege tanks were set up. Bunkers locked down every path in the city. Biological forces patrolled the streets. Thors enabled their 250 mm ground to air cannons, ready to contribute to keeping the skies clear.

But deep down, Jean knew the planet was lost. She didn't know what happened or how the Golden Armada got corrupted and was mobilized without her observers knowing it, not that it mattered. The Golden Armada belongs to Amon now. Period.

If it was Raynor here, he would gather all his forces to Umoja for a last stand and either defeat the foes or die trying, but Jean wasn't Raynor. There was a reason she was alive and Raynor wasn't. She didn't survive this long by being hot headed.

While the Umojan Fleet died in the sky, Jean had the entire Umojan Ruling Council go on planetwide broadcast and declare that the Umojans would never surrender, and that the Umojan Armed Forces and the Umojan Fleet would fight until the last man. They announced, as the leaders of the Umojan Protectorate, they wouldn't be fleeing. Instead, they would remain on Umoja and, if necessary, go down with the planet.

At the same time, Jean prepared for evacuation.

Three fleets of Warden B-1 battlecruisers were brought together. Warden units transported everything on Umoja too valuable to be sacrificed onto the battlecruisers. This included numerous industrial assembly lines and high tech gadgets. Certain scientists and engineers were brought onto the battlecruisers with or without their consent. Jean filled the rest of the available space with as many units of mineral as she could fit.

This way, even without Umoja she made sure she could construct as many Warden units as quickly as possible.

As the Golden Armada started landing on Umoja, as seas and seas of zealots ravaged through the Umojan defenses and charged into the Council House, Jean abandoned the millions of innocent lives on Umoja and departed with her B-1 fleets.

To Jean, making a stand here would be inefficient. She had the ability to do so, but this simply wasn't the ideal time to fight. The Golden Armada was at its peak. Its warriors were ready, and even eager, for war. Its ships were at their full strength and had maximum energy storage. Jean's forces, on the other hand, needed time to be mobilized. The Dominion Fleet was still under reconstruction. The Swarm and the Tal'darim were a distance away. The Purifier Fleet was available, but Jean had no intention of trading her personal Purifier Fleet and Warden Fleet for the Golden Armada. She still needed them to maintain her spot inside the sector as well as advance into the Void. She didn't want to waste them when she didn't have to.

So she fled. As the virtual leader of the Protectorate, she fled without a sense of guilt or shame.

In the end, the planet Umoja was completely destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of zealots slaughtered the majority of the population before being recalled. Seconds later, the entire Golden Armada opened fire and literally ripped the planet into pieces.

The Umojan Fleet was wiped out. The Umojan Protectorate was pretty much dead. In hours, the Golden Armada obliterated one of the two most powerful terran factions in the sector.

But Jean got out, and that was all that mattered, at least to her.

And now she was planning to strike back.

Inside her flagship, she went into a conference with all her allies.

Purifier Executor Delta.

Tal'darim Highlord Nyon.

Queen of the Blades Kerrigan.

Dominion Emperor Valerian Mengsk.

Infested terran Stukov.

Mercenary leader Mira Han.

After months of planning, Jean finally extended her influence across all three races and to most of the sector. She has put herself in danger countless times. Those risks weren't for nothing.

"Hours ago, the Daelaam Golden Armada attacked our capital, Umoja. It laid ruin to the Umojan Fleet and slaughtered our people. As of now, it has been confirmed that Umoja has, indeed, being completely destroyed. Apart from a small band of the Umojan Fleet, there is no survivor."

Jean announced in a low and solemn voice. Some of her allies wouldn't mind it, but others, mostly Valerian, would find it odd if she talked about the complete destruction of her homeworld and the massacre of her people without much emotion involved.

Just like Jean expected, Valerian was taken back by shock. He has long heard about the might of the Daelaam, but he has never faced them in combat before. The few knowledge he had about them came from battle reports from his underlings, which completely failed to portray the full power of the Golden Armada. The now Emperor has fought alongside the Umojans less than a month ago. He admired their strength and technology, and now they were gone. Their demise was so quick it was over before he even heard about it.

Highlord Nyon smirked when he saw the sad look on Jean's face and the tears she was trying to hold in. He has been with Jean the longest, and out of habit, he has done quite some research. The girl wasn't even Umojan. She just jumped from the Raiders to Umoja for an opportunity. She couldn't care less about the Umojan's survival. Still, he nonetheless shared the concern about the Golden Armada. In his view, the Umojan Fleet was obviously weaker than the Death Fleet, but not by much. If the Golden Armada could wipe out the Umojan Fleet this easily, it could do the same to the Death Fleet.

The others were slightly taken back as well.

Jean continued.

"We received no warning. We received no declaration of war. The Umojan Protectorate hasn't offended the Daelaam in the slightest way, but still they struck us without any mercy. As of the moment, the Golden Armada remains in the Protectorate. It is going from planet to planet, purifying the inhabitants. We must act. For this purpose, I propose an alliance."

If establishing relationships with leaders of different factions was the first step to uniting the sector against Amon, then an alliance was the second. When the sector fought against the Golden Armada together, it would be so much easier to fight against Amon when the time comes.

Delta obviously had no complaint. She was basically a copy of Jean. Nyon agreed as well. He didn't care about how ruthless and treacherous the undeclared war the Golden Armada launched was, but Jean helped him go from the Sixth Ascendant to the Highlord, and it was time to repay the favor. Plus, the Golden Armada posed a threat to all, even the mighty Forged.

Kerrigan nodded in agreement. After Arcturus Mengsk's death, she has been scouring through the sector, looking for traces of the one that controlled her, Amon. She located several groups of terran that appeared to be doing Amon's biddings, but they were all dead and their platforms were all destroyed when she arrived. However, in one case, she was able to track down a group of corrupted terran that were still alive when she found them. Those former Moebius soldiers attacked her like they were mad, screaming slogans about destroying the sector in the name of the darkness. Comparing the action of those corrupted terran to the Daelaam, Kerrigan realized the action of the Golden Armada resembled Amon's influence as well. In the worst case, her enemy has gained control to the mightest fleet in the sector. She wasn't a team player, unless she saw an opportunity to betray her teammates, but the situation left her with no choice.

Valerian had no issue with the idea of an alliance. The Umojans made him emperor. It was only right for him to avenge their end. Just like Nyon and Kerrigan, Valerian felt threatened by the power of the Golden Armada. The Golden Armada has only taken down the Umojan Protectorate, but what was keeping it from striking the Dominion as well? The Dominion couldn't survive by itself. All the factions needed to stick together.

Stukov agreed. The infested terran has completely seized the Kel-Morian Combine. Millions and millions of terran were infested and turned to his pawns. Even more important, Stukov had an infested mechanical army with tens of thousands of infested siege tanks, diamondbacks, hellions, and vikings.

That left Mira Han.

"My people will gladly fight for you...for the right price."

"The Dominion will pay for your men, Commander Han." Valerian cut in. Mira nodded. As a mercenary, she didn't care who hires her as long as she could get the money. Of course, a group of lightsaber wielding alien maniacs killing everyone wasn't good for business either.

"Thank you, commanders. The sector will thank you for this decision." Jean smiled weakly. A drop of tear could be seen in her eyes, but she managed to make it so it looked like she was holding the tears back. She needed the maintain the image of a patriotic girl trying to avenge the death of her world. If Valerian knew she fled Umoja without a fight, not because she couldn't but because she chose not to, he just might not be as eager to help.

"Ahhh...I am satisfied we're on the same page." Nyon started impatiently. "Now, can we march to Umoja now? With all our fleets, we can no doubt wipe out the Golden Armada. The Tal'darim will be the spearhead of the assault."

"The strength of your people is well known across the sector, Highlord, but the Golden Armada is not the only thing that bothers me." Jean turned to Nyon. Her words were as sweet as honey. "I have no doubt the Death Fleet can be victorious against the Daelaam, yet there might be a bigger problem behind the sudden act of war by the Golden Armada. Engaging it right now will be not just costly but also risky."

Nyon seemed annoyed, but he didn't say anything. It was rare for a Tal'darim, much less a Highlord, to handle being refused well, but Nyon did it easily because he knew Jean would always come up with a wiser, more efficient plan. There was no need for him to complain about preserving more ships.

In the background, Kerrigan nodded. She thought Jean noticed the presence of Amon behind the Golden Armada as well.

"What do you suggest?" Delta asked.

"The Golden Armada is powerful, but its weakness is obvious as well." Jean pulled out a hologram of the star map of the entire sector behind her so all the members of the conference could see it clearly. She tapped a single point.

"Aiur."

"Aiur contains most of the manufacturing lines for the Daelaam. Most of the Daelaam civilization warps its harvested resources back to Aiur, use them to assemble into ships, and then warp the completed ships or other units back to the front line. If we strike Aiur, we can cut off any reinforcement for the Golden Armada. Their ships certainly have some ability to manufacture units, but it will still be a sharp blow."

"I will lead the Death Fleet there."

"Actually, Highlord, the capabilities of the Death Fleet will be needed back in the frontline for the final confrontation of the Golden Armada." Jean turned to Delta. "Please lead the Purifier Fleet to Aiur. Seize the planet and do as much damage as possible."

"As you wish." Delta obeyed.

Jean sent Delta for a reason. The Purifier technology was similar to the Daelaam ones. Just like Daelaam Phase Smiths were able to gain control to Purifier observers, Purifier engineers could also take over Daelaam technologies. Give Delta some time, and she could turn every single Daelaam manufacturing line, that the Daelaam protoss spent countless time and resource on, and make them her own.

It would be the perfect example of weakening the enemies and strengthening yourself.

Also, Aiur would be a softer target than the Golden Armada. Jean could keep more Purifiers alive.

Jean turned to the others.

"Another weakness of the Golden Armada is their reliance on energy. Their shields need energy. Their weapons need energy. Even their blades need energy to be powered. Exhaust their energy storage, and the Golden Armada will just be a cloud of giant targets." She turned to Stukov.

"I want every resource-rich planet in the sector covered with infested terran. Have them burrowed deep underground when the main Daelaam forces are present, and have them attack when the defenses are weakened."

"And if the Daelaam leave too many forces behind?"

"Then there will be less Daelaam on the frontline. It will be a win win."

"Smart." Stukov knew it was an obvious trick, but it was also a good one. Even if the Golden Armada knew what they were doing, they couldn't effectively counter it. Whether if they spend the time to completely scan the area or leave a large number of forces behind, the Daelaam would be weakened. "My warriors are perfect for this task. Consider it done."

"Emperor Valerian. Commander Han. I need you two to assemble your forces and ready for war."

Their task sounded the easiest, but Mira's marauders were the weakest among all of Jean's allies, and the Dominion has just survived a civil war. The two needed as much time as possible.

"I don't understand. Are we engaging the Golden Armada?" Kerrigan frowned. The backstabs seemed great, but she wasn't too familiar with the notion of leaving a group of enemies unattended to.

"I assure you, we will engage the Golden Armada, eventually, but before that, we should make sure our chances of victory are as great as possible."

Kerrigan rose her eyebrows. "I'm starting to understand why you win almost every battle you fight. Your tactics are...dirty, yet effective."

Jean smiled. "As for you, my queen, I will need you to do something as well."

"Which is?"

"Engage the enemy?"

"Huh?"

"Divide the Swarm into several pieces and constantly engage the Golden Armada. Make those pieces as mobile as possible. I don't want you to do damage. I want you to force the Golden Armada to turn on their shields and fire their weapons. When the Golden Armada approaches your forces, have them warp away. Keep the Golden Armada constantly on the move. This will exhaust their energy quicker. I believe your leviathans are more durable in that field."

Kerrigan nodded. Suddenly, she paused.

"I would not want to be your enemy."

Jean smiled warmly as all the hologram projections faded away.


	123. Chapter 123

Hamdar II was the third largest manufacturing planet in Umoja. It mainly produced civilian products. Jean, due to her limited resource, didn't find the need to convert the factories here to Warden manufacturing facilities as well. As a result, the planet was able to remain as it was before the war. The inhabitants weren't living in an utopia, but they weren't afraid of their lives either.

This all changed when a fleet large enough to completely surround the planet jumped in.

Narud and Artanis watched side by side in the bridge of the Golden Armada flagship as dozens of carriers melted the planet below. Squads of white Umojan battlecruisers launched a final, desperate attack on the Daelaam, but half their ship count was gone by the time they made it through the web of protoss laser beams. The rest barely survived a round of zealot warp ins.

Orbital cannons fired desperately toward the carriers. Marines and marauders kissed goodbye to their family as they entered their CMC armors and marched into the defenses. Siege tanks entered siege mode. Unfortunately, none of those actions mattered when the Golden Armada simply rained down death from the sky and destroyed everything and everyone on the planet.

Suddenly, Artanis sensed a piece of information being passed on through the Khala. He processed it and quickly turned to Narud.

"My lord, Aiur is under siege. Just hours ago, a fleet of ancient Purifier ships warped into Aiur's orbit. They destroyed the orbital defenses and have landed on the planet. Executor Selendis is holding the line, but we don't have sufficient forces back on Aiur to defeat the Purifiers."

If Artanis was still his true self, he would've turned the Golden Armada around back to Aiur the second he got the news. Aiur was the stem of the protoss, and Artanis didn't take it back from the zerg just so he could lose it again. Unfortunately, the hierarch was merely a shell of his former self. He and his people were completely brainwashed. Hell they knew they would eventually be killed by Amon as well, even if they achieved victory, and yet they still fought for Amon regardless of the consequences. Aiur was just like any other planet to them.

Narud thought about it for a while before coming to a conclusion.

"Our enemies are trying to buy time. Our assault on Umoja must have caught them by surprise. We will not be delayed. Continue your task, hierarch."

Compared to Jean's near omniscient knowledge, Narud was at a deficit in terms of information. Despite being in the sector since the start of the Brood War, the undercover Xel'naga wasn't exactly able to know everything about everyone in the sector. He had little knowledge of Jean's presence, apart from what the Terran Dominion knew. All he knew about the situation was that the Umojans and the Purifiers, and possibly the Dominion, have established some sort of alliance to target Amon. He had no idea the Swarm and the Tal'darim were part of the alliance as well.

When Narud planned the assault, since he had no idea where the Purifiers were, he took the Golden Armada to the Umojans, who were more of a threat than the weakened Terran Dominion.

As far as he could see, the Umojans, one of the three major parts of the alliance, have already been crippled by the Golden Armada. The Purifiers didn't have the forces to stop the Armada, so they tried to attack Aiur and force the Armada to turn around, therefore buying time for the Dominion and the Umojans to rebuild their forces. Narud didn't think the two terran factions could do much even f the Golden Armada did turn around, but he wasn't taking any chances.

The Golden Armada would continue to go forward.

"As you wish." Artanis turned to all his underlings in the Khala. "Recall all forces from Aiur. Adjust the rally point of all resource and unit from Aiur to the Armada." Basically, he was sacking Aiur.

The Daelaam have spent years trying to take back that planet, and now they were giving it up without even trying to defend it. It was painstakingly ironic.

After deploying scouts and phoenixes to wipe out the last of the Umojan survivors, the entire Golden Armada jumped away.

Thirty minutes later, fifty leviathans jumped into the area. All they saw were ship remains and floating bodies. Pieces of rock and soil floated aimlessly in space. They were produced by the purification beams from all the dozens of motherships. Narud wanted to make sure there were no survivors.

* * *

"Ahhh. The Kel-Morian Combine." Narud stated as he looked out the window.

After going on a nonstop planet burning spree for over forty hours, all the major Umojan planets were gone. Jean "tried" to warn those planets of the danger at hand, but all her attempts of communication "accidentally" failed.

 _After all, it was to Jean's benefit if the Golden Armada wasted ammunition on random planets that no longer served any purpose to Jean…_

Finally, the Golden Armada exited the territory of the former Umojan Protectorate and marched into that of the Kel-Morian Combine.

"My lord, if I may ask."

"Go on."

"Why don't we warp directly to the Terran Dominion? We understand it is part of the alliance that has foolishly stood against our master. We must seize them at once. Aiur has fallen, and our energy storage is depleting by the hour. Our foes are no doubt assembling their forces as we speak. The longer we wait, the more likely our foes will overpower us."

Artanis was brainwashed, but he was still a decent military commander. He wasn't blind to the situation, and he certainly didn't like it.

Narud smirked.

"Perhaps, but if the Golden Armada burns the Dominion, what will the rest of the resistance do? What will the Purifier Fleet do?"

Artanis was silent. He didn't see where Narud was going.

"If we crush the Terran Dominion, the rest of the resistance will understand they can't defeat us, and they will run. This is a large sector, hierarch, and neither the Golden Armada nor the hybrids can track down every single resistance. The Purifiers can simply hide in a corner of the sector and strike us where the Golden Armada is not. It will be a game of cat and mouse."

"But we will persevere! We will eventually seize the victory!"

"Yet our master doesn't have the patience!" Narud suddenly declared. "Our master demands for the destruction of this sector, and it is our duty as his servant to bring this to him as quickly as possible, no matter the price."

He turned around and looked into Artanis's red, glowing eyes.

"The Golden Armada will become vulnerable, and our enemies will gather in strength, and eventually, our foes will think they have the number to overpower us. They will engage us, and in the heat of the battle, just as they think they win, we will break through their lines and wipe out their fleet. More importantly, we will cut off their retreat. If we wipe out the main fleet of the resistors, the rest would hardly be a problem."

"Then why didn't we take the bait and warp back to Aiur when the Purifiers attacked Aiur? The attack itself was aimed to bring us back."

"Perhaps, but if our enemies seized Aiur, they will be more inclined to believe the Golden Armada is weaker than it truly is. It will encourage them to stand and fight...and therefore lead the best forces in the sector to their destruction."

Narud's decision wasn't the smartest tactically, but tactics weren't his only consideration. After the major screwup with the Moebius, Narud noticed Amon was getting impatient with him. If he dragged this out, even if he was only trying to be safe, Amon wouldn't be an understanding boss. Instead, he wouldn't hesitate to take Narud out of the equation and adopt a more aggressive tactic. In the line of work as a Xel'naga, retirement meant death.

Sure, the Golden Armada would pay the price for this risky strategy, but the Daelaam would be slaughtered anyways, along with the Tal'darim, the terran, and the zerg.

Speaking of the Tal'darim, Narud almost forgot they existed. He heard news about how Ma'lash was replaced by a lower ascendant, through a rather unconventional way, in fact. However, neither he nor Amon cared about what the exact way was. From the very beginning, the Xel'naga treated the Tal'darim as tools. Just like people wouldn't care why their pen suddenly stopped working and would simply replace them with new ones, Amon and Narud were fine with the change of leadership as long as the new leader could carry out the missions nicely.

After Nyon's ascension, Narud was too busy getting sent back to the void and then planning to stab Jean in the back to get in touch with the Tal'darim. He planned to change that. The Death Fleet could really be a table changer in the upcoming war.

He was right in that regard. What he didn't know was which side the Tal'darim would be on.

"Hierarch," He turned to Artanis once again. "prepare a fleet. I want you to bring one of my hybrids to Slayn and meet up with the new Highlord of the Tal'darim."

Warping systems seemed all cool and easy, but it actually needed a lot of preparation. If hybrids wanted to be warped directly onto the battlefield via Tal'darim power fields, there had to be modifications. Unfortunately, all the hybrids with such modifications belonged to Ma'lash and were now dead. This forced Narud to take the more conventional mean of travel.

Speaking of the hybrids, Nyon painted the floor of the Pit of Ascension blue with the blood of the hybrids, but Narud hardly cared. Ma'lash used the hybrids and still lost. It only proved how weak he truly was. It was worth it to sacrifice a few dozen hybrids and get that piece of weakness off the seat of the Highlord.

Artanis complied and ordered his templars to carry out the order.

As twelve carriers departed from the Golden Armada, Narud turned his attention back to the Kel-Morian planet below.

"My lord, our scanners show the planet is unoccupied." One of the zealots reported in slight confusion. "This is a labeled terran planet, but scanners can't locate a single terran on the planet. Wait," He frowned and tapped a few keys. "one of the observers have discovered something...oh, in the name of the Khala…"

"What is it?" Artanis demanded.

"The numbers."

"Numbers?"

"The life signals...they have reached ten million…all of them have demonstrated zerg characteristics!"

"Shall I deploy a legion of templar?" Selendis asked. She was formerly stationed on Aiur. She was leading the defenses against the Purifiers when she was recalled. The once proud templar had no issue at all with fleeing from her homeworld.

"A legion of templar will be easily engulfed against this many zerg." Artanis objected. "So will ten."

Narud remained silent. His mind turned on what this discovery might mean. The zerg have already taken over the planet before they arrived, and they had an army burrowed underground, ready to strike. It was safe to assume these zerg belonged to the anti-Amon alliance as well.

Terran Umojans and Dominion. Protoss Purifiers. Zerg Swarm. All three races have united against Amon.

Good. He, Narud, would wipe all of them out and dominate the sector in a single battle.

The ambush was discovered, but Narud knew that didn't mean the enemies' plan have completely failed. Just killing ten million zerg could take a while, and if the Golden Armada didn't have too many forces on the ground, whatever army they sent them might even be wiped out. Just like Kerrigan, Narud realized this was a trick that could still function after it was exposed. Discovered or not, the trick could always wear the Golden Armada down.

Thankfully, at least on this point, Narud wanted the same as the enemies. The enemies wanted to weaken the Golden Armada to buy time and prepare for a final confrontation, and Narud wanted to make the enemies believe they could win and throw all their forces into a final confrontation.

Therefore, he was more than eager to go with the plan.

"Purify the planet." He ordered. "Burn every inch of it to dust regardless of the energy spending."

And so the Golden Armada went into action.


	124. Chapter 124

Slayn.

A fleet of corrupted Daelaam ships exited warp space.

They were immediately noticed by Tal'darim scouts.

After declaring war on Amon, Nyon mobilized the entire Tal'darim engine of war. Under his iron fist, a system of manufacturing industry was quickly established, and for the first time in perhaps forever, Tal'darim started forging their own vessels from scratch. Nyon had help from Delta's Purifiers. Despite coming from different factions, most protoss technologies were closely related.

Some complained, claiming the art of crafting was for the weak. Nyon ignored those objections.

Nyon knew the Golden Armada was en route across the sector. It has been a week since the fall of Umoja, and it has been days since the entire Umojan Protectorate was purged. Jean established a doctrine against the Golden Armada, but it was mainly focused on stabbing it in the back to weaken it before truly confronting it. If the Golden Armada, still powerful, struck Slayn, there would be severe consequences.

That was why Slayn was immediately put on maximum alert when the Daelaam ships were spotted. Countless ships, from the most advanced motherships to the most basic phoenixes, lifted off into the air. Millions of Tal'darim readied their blades and armors, ready for war. The Daelaam were menacing, but the Tal'darim would gladly show them who's boss.

With the Death Fleet in place and ready for war, Nyon, Alarak, and Ji'nara waited in their command ships for a few minutes before realizing there weren't any additional Daelaam vessels. The fleet of twelve ships was their only guest.

Even the Highlord was confused. He expected that fleet to be a vanguard to the main Armada. He was seconds away from calling for aid and bringing the entire Dominion Fleet, Zerg Swarm, and Warden Fleet over here when a zealot broke the silence.

"Highlord, the Daelaam ships have attempted to establish contact with us."

That is odd. Through the thousands of planets the Golden Armada laid waste to, they have never tried to talk to anyone. All they knew was warp in, destroy the defenses, purify the planet, and warp away. "Patch them through."

Seconds later, the face of a hybrid appeared on the mothership's main interface.

"Highlord of the Tal'darm. My name is Akshaar. We serve the common master." The hybrid spoke in a deep, dark voice. He addressed Nyon by his title rather than his name, not out of respect, but because the only thing Nyon meant to him was the Highlord of the Tal'darim.

Nyon was taken back by shock for a second. He thought Amon's side knew about his betrayal already. Judging from the hybrid's words and tone, he was wrong.

In reality, the Tal'darim world was completely severed from Amon's side. All the hybrids that fought side by side with the Tal'darim have been slaughtered in the Rak'Shir duel. There were Amon's loyalists in the Tal'darim even after Nyon declared Amon's betrayal, but Nyon has been persecuting those risk factors at the commanding structure of the Tal'darim for a while. At this point, almost all high level ascendants were loyal to Nyon, not Amon. There were still plenty of Amon's followers overall, but they had no way of contacting Amon. Even someone as mighty as Amon couldn't connect to every single one of the millions of Tal'darim through terrazine.

The news of what happened was never passed out. Even if some whispers did go out, neither Narud nor Amon paid attention for those rumors, not when they were at risk of being united against by the entire sector.

All of those factors caused this somewhat hilarious scene. Nyon was ready for the most brutal war in the Tal'darim history, but moments later he was talking to one of his enemies as an ally.

But if Nyon's experience with Jean taught him anything, it was trickery could be much more efficient than sheer brutality. Instead of just opening fire on the hybrid and risk letting him flee, Nyon tried a much smarter approach.

"Glory to Amon, Akshaar. What is our god's decree?"

"It is time for the Tal'darim to serve, Highlord. Amon's most loyal servant, Narud, has called for the aid of the entire Death Fleet. You are to lead every single Tal'darim ship and warrior to a provided location. I will be your guide."

Nyon nodded. He did his best to make himself look like one of Amon's zealous followers. It wasn't hard. All he had to do was mimic one of the dozens of ascendant fanatics he slaughtered several weeks ago when he took the throne. "We will do so at once. Meanwhile, might I have the luxury of hosting you on my ship? The presence of one of god's finest will make our warriors lust for the blood of their foe even more."

During Ma'lash's era, the basic Tal'darim foot soldiers were told that if they served Amon, they would eventually become hybrids. All the Tal'darim saw was the power of the hybrids to rip through an ultralisk and ravage through a vanguard single-handedly, and not their loss of identity. This was just another one of Ma'lash's lies that Nyon cleansed. Thankfully, the hybrid didn't know that.

Akshaar nodded. "If my presence on your ship will inspire your warriors to fight, then I shall do so gladly." He was one of the more intelligent hybrids. This was precisely why Narud chose him to complete this task.

The call ended.

Nyon turned to Alarak and Ji'nara.

"Prepare your supplicants. As soon as that hybrid's ship brings the hybrid here, destroy the hybrid and his fleet. This far away, even the Khala can't connect these Daelaam to the Golden Armada. Take him out quietly and destroy the evidence. Remember. No one saw him."

All Nyon had to do was stall. The longer they waited before the fight began, the more likely their side was going to win. If the messenger mysteriously disappeared, if the bulk of the Golden Armada arrives, Nyon could still buy some time by saying he never saw the hybrid and that he was still on Amon's side, and he didn't move the Death Fleet because he never got the order. It was the safest way to delay the inevitable battle.

* * *

Five shuttles unloaded hybrid Akshaar and fifty Daelaam zealots onto the Tal'darim mothership.

Nyon, Alarak, and Ji'nara walked up to meet him along with their supplicants.

"How long it will be until full mobilization? Narud needs the Death Fleet now." Akshaar didn't bother to waste time with politeness. Rather, he went straight to the point. After all, it the eyes of the Xel'naga, the Tal'darim were just cheap tools that would be discarded after the final victory. Only the hybrids were the desirable soldiers.

"I assure you, it will be soon." Nyon kept his head low and gestured for inside the ship. "I have assembled some of Amon's most loyal warriors. They await your presence."

"Very well." Akshaar felt a shade of annoyance going across his heart, but he quickly tamed it. All for Amon.

As Akshaar headed into the bridge, Nyon allowed a small grin to appear on his face.

He was really starting to enjoy backstabbing others...

The hybrid messenger walked into a giant dome that was at the center of the bridge. The dome was transparent. It was in fact formed by energy. It was several times more durable than the toughest terran glass. This made this dome one of the safest places on the ship.

Thousands of Tal'darim gave their lives to seize this dome centuries ago from the Aiur protoss.

The inside of the dome was giant. Even Akshaar felt tiny. Standing on a platform, he looked down and found legions and legions of Tal'darim standing on countless round plates. Those plates allowed the Tal'darim on top to float in the air, therefore using the space more efficiently.

Nyon, Alarak, and Ji'nara stood behind the hybrid. Just before Akshaar could say some word of encouragement, Nyon cut in.

"If I may, Akshaar, what is the Golden Armada planning at the moment. Our people need to know who and what they will be facing."

Ji'nara glanced at Nyon. Even she was feeling the strangeness of the situation. Nyon was literally asking his enemy military secrets.

Akshaar glanced at Nyon. This time the mocking in his eyes couldn't even be remotely hidden.

"Your people need to know nothing. All you need to do is comply."

Nyon could no longer hold the obedient look. Even Jean wouldn't talk to him like this. Compare Jean's considerate tone with the arrogant words of the hybrid, he was glad for his choice of allies.

Plus, there was no need to put up an act now.

As Akshaar turned back to face the Tal'darim legions, Nyon silently ignited his blade.

"What?" The sound of the bane blade igniting was loud in the nearly silent room. Akshaar suddenly sensed a fatal danger from behind. He turned around once again, only to find himself staring at Nyon's blade.

Nyon's action completely took Akshaar by surprise. The hybrid tried to fall back and buy some time for himself, but it was too late. Nyon blade landed on his chest plating and left a deep, burning mark. The blade contained the full strength of the Highlord. It would take much more than a hybrid's plating to deflect the attack.

Almost as if a signal was given, both Alarak and Ji'nara drew their blades and charged toward Akshaar. Meanwhile, all their supplicants turned their attention to the Daelaam escort.

Red blades clashed with red blades in the background. Nyon leaped forward and pushed Akshaar off the platform with an energy blast. The hybrid screeched as he fell and crashed into the ground. Almost as soon as he hit the ground, all the Tal'darim on all the plates leaped toward the hybrid. The 'most loyal warriors of Amon' cornered the hybrid and struck down on him in a wave of frenzy.

Akshaar resisted, but he was already wounded by both Nyon and the fall. His claws occasionally snatched out and crushed a Tal'darim zealot into a gust of red mist, but the dead was quickly replaced. His injuries grew exponentially in number. Individual bane blades were nothing, but dozens of them constantly striking down was a whole different story.

He used three seconds to form a giant energy wave, but as soon as the first dozen zealots were knocked off their feets, just as he was about to get back up, twenty more zealots charged forward in beams of energies and landed on top of him. Their blades hit even stronger than those of the first wave of zealots. It was only a matter of time before Akshaar was in pieces.

Nyon stood on the platform and looked down on the dying hybrid. Beside him, all the Daelaam warriors were dealt with.

Outside the mothership, as soon as Nyon drew his blade on Akshaar, the Death Fleet opened fire on the Daelaam Fleet. Thousands of phoenixes and scouts, previously positioned around the unsuspecting Daelaam ships, opened fire at once. All the warp drives were destroyed before the plasma shields could even be raised. By the time the Daelaam escort was gone, so was the fleet.

The plan worked well...seemingly.

Behind Nyon, Alarak suddenly ignited his blade and pushed it into Nyon's back. His supplicants turned on Nyon's and Ji'nara's supplicants and forced them back with the element of surprise. Three plates, previously floating in the air, landed on the ground. The Tal'darim on those plates moved forward, but instead of joining the fight against Akshaar, they turned against their fellow Tal'darim.

All Akshaar knew was the endless wave of Tal'darim was halted. He crushed the skull of the last two Tal'darim and got back up, only to find the Tal'darim have seemingly divided into two parties. He couldn't really tell the difference, but judging from the brutalness these Tal'darim fought, they did.

A figure landed beside him. Akshaar turned in alertness and found himself facing one of the Tal'darim that stood by Nyon when the Highlord suddenly decided to turn on him for what seemed like no reason at all.

"How dare you attack a servant of god?" He threatened, still struggling to understand the situation.

Alarak smirked. A wound was on his side, thanks to Ji'nara. He glanced at the platform above and saw his supplicants were still standing their ground against the Second Ascendant and all her supplicants, but they wouldn't be hold on for too long.

He turned to Akshaar.

"I am First Ascendant Alarak. Highlord Nyon and Second Ascendant Ji'nara have teamed together to rebel against Amon. They set this trap to silence you. I was forced to go along with them, but as soon as I could, I returned to the side of the true god."

"Why should I believe you?" Akshaar demanded.

Alarak groaned. Suddenly, a pair of zealots moved to beside him and attacked him. Alarak dodged the attack of the first zealot, beheaded the second, and then turned around and pushed his blade into the first, impaling him.

"Why would I lie? If I serve Nyon, then you would be dead by now. Why should I sacrifice my own forces and my own life if my loyalty is not truely with Amon?"

Akshaar nodded hesitantly. All around him, Tal'darim were falling like flies. He couldn't tell the difference between Alarak's forces and Nyon's, but he knew the situation wasn't going in his favor.

"Follow me." Alarak declared as he turned around. Akshaar paused for another second before deciding to follow. Trust Alarak and he might die. Stay here and he certainly will. A group of Tal'darim assembled around them and helped them fend off surrounding enemies forces. They quickly made their way out the door.

On the platform, Nyon and Ji'nara watched as Alarak and Akshaar boarded a Tal'darim ship. That ship, along with dozens of other ships, quickly jumped away.

Ji'nara turned to Nyon. Her armor was in pieces and her psionic energy was exhausted, but her spirit was high.

"Do you think that hybrid bought it?"

The Highlord shrugged.

"It's not the hybrid I worry about."

"It's Narud."


	125. Chapter 125

Korhal.

A single transport flew across the skies of Korhal. It was followed by twenty-four F-1 fighters.

Jean sat in the transport. She was alone. Well, the squad of G-1 units behind her didn't exactly count.

"Creator," A C-1 command unit took control of the Warden AI of the transport. "you should send someone else to investigate or send a fleet. This is unsafe."

"I have to do this alone." Jean replied as she stared out of the window.

An hour ago, a message reached Jean, who was residing in the middle of the Warden Fleet. The message came from a Warden Command Unit she hid in the Dominion security network, and it told Jean to go to one of the Dominion's orbital platforms alone. It had something to give to her. That was it. Jean received no further information.

"Whatever that C-1 wants to give me or show me, it must be important and too sensitive to be passed on to me within the message or to be delivered by someone else." Jean continued. "Command units can never do anything that can harm me. You know that."

The Command Unit paused. "Correct, but if a Command Unit is physically compromised…"

"Be quiet." Uncharacteristically, Jean shut the command unit off.

"Affirmative, Creator." The Command Unit had no choice but to completely obey Jean's order at once. When Jean designed Warden units, she installed complete obedience.

The squad of flyers continued. Finally, they reached the platform. Strangely, there wasn't a single Dominion battlecruiser around that platform, nor was there any fighter or other flyer. Jean suddenly realized it had been quite a while since she saw another Dominion ship on the way here. The platform didn't attempt to contact Jean's transport either, even though it entered the patrol proximity of the platform.

Jean merely looked at the platform and remained dead silent. She made no attempt to turn the ships around or order a retreat. She just waited for whatever was planned for her.

Suddenly, as the transport and the escort got into firing range, both of the Drakken Pulse Cannons on the platform, as well as the missile turrets, turned around and started unloading.

The transport's defensive matrix was enabled. It was just in time, because moments after the green shield popped up, half a dozen projectiles clashed with the transport and exploded. Without the matrix, the transport would've been in pieces already.

The F-1 fighters scrambled to dodge the shots, but three of them still went down in balls of flames. The rest of the fighters were about to rain down fire on the rogue Dominion orbital defenses when three squads of Dominion wraiths lifted off from the platform. These wraiths immediately turned on the F-1 fighters.

"All F-1 fighters delay the rogue Dominion fighters. Transport, bring me back to the Warden Fleet." Jean simply commanded as ships and missiles exploded all around her.

The F-1s initiated a Kamikaze on the rogue fighters, who turned out to be happy to take the trade. A dozen wraiths literally smashed into the F-1s on purpose. Both fighters exploded. But when the smoke cleared, all the F-1 were dead and there were still ten or so wraiths. They immediately pursued after Jean's transport. Their engines were overloaded to a degree that the starfighters would go up in flames in a few minutes even if they weren't taken down by enemy fighters.

Such a speed came at a high cost. The pilots had blood dripping out of their mouth. This was partially due to speed and partially due to all the stim pack they took. It was nearly impossible for normal human pilots to control fighters this fast. They simply didn't have the reflex. The stim packs temporarily solved the problem.

It was safe to say that neither the fighters nor the pilots were intended on surviving this mission.

And the pilots knew it, but they came anyway.

 _Because all shall burn in Amon's wrath…_

Jean's transport continued going. At this point, something was obviously wrong. Her ship has already gotten to above Korhal's city, and not a single Dominion fighter or battlecruiser tried to stop her. Civilians on the ground looked up in confusion, but their confusion turned to fear as the wraiths chased after the transport, almost blindly unloading missile after missile at the transport.

Finally, a missile found its way to the engine of the transport. Following an explosion, the engine went out. Thankfully, the specially crafted hulls were still mostly intact. The ship got lower and lower and finally reached ground level at a park.

A dozen people were in the way of the ship. Unfortunately, they didn't have any time to respond before the ship crushed them under the metal platings.

Screams and cries immediately covered the park as the survivors were either paralyzed and collapsed or turned and ran as quickly as possible.

The wraith pilot that shot down Jean allowed a proud smile to appear on his face before his fighter disintegrated in mid-air.

Inside the transport, Jean wiped some blood off her face. Behind her, her group of G-1 bodyguards seemed to have been caught in the blast. The shot that took out the engine also broke through the rear plating of the transport, destroying most of the G-1s in the back.

Fortunately, a handful of the G-1s survived. One of the G-1s ignited its plasma blade and cut through a piece of wreckage that blocked it from the outside. The plasma blade cut through the metal easily. With a final push, the G-1 broke free.

But just before it could go back and help Jean, a round of psionic powered bullet went into its core processor, bringing it down.

Jean coughed more blood. She turned around and found several figures approaching. All of them gave off strong psionic signals. Their eyes were purple, so were their armors.

Spectres.

One of the spectres pumped a bullet into a civilian too shocked to run away in time.

Jean didn't know where these spectres came from exactly, but she could take a guess. Tosh got dealt with by Viper, but information of Project ShadowBlade remained. Narud must've continued on with the experiments and created more spectres. He had both the technology and the resource. These spectres were probably hidden in covert sites by Narud, sites that weren't on the Dominion database and Jean was not aware of. Now, before the final confrontation, Narud sent them in to assassinate her.

But it was too late. Jean reached for her belt and pulled out a plasma blade, but even before she could light it up, the spectre put a bullet into her heart.

Jean collapsed. Her plasma blade hit the ground.

"Target Alpha terminated."

"Confirm it. Destroy the body."

"Yes sir."

The leading spectre said into the comm as he turned and left. The two other spectres walked into the transport, located the energy core, and dropped a pack of explosive on it with a timer of one minute. They were eager to die, but now was not the time.

Jean wasn't the only target.

As the spectres got far away, the transport exploded.

* * *

At the same time as Jean was taken down from the skies, Narud's spectres went to work all over the planet.

"Who are you? No...wait! I can pay you a lot of credits...ah!"

A high ranking officer in Mira's Marauders screamed as a spectre pushed a plasma blade through his heart. Dozens of bodies of mercenary marines, marauders, reapers, and ghosts laid around him. Half a dozen spectres walked away.

 _"Piu"_

A Dominion general about to walk into his vehicle collapsed. Half of his head was gone. His security detail went crazy and looked around for the perpetrator, but they couldn't find anyone. Kilometers away, a spectre dropped his modified gauss sniper rifle and departed.

In front of a Dominion radar station, a man walked toward the two sentries at the door.

"This is a restricted area." The pair of Dominion sentries frowned at the man, but before they could say anything else, the man grabbed onto them both. Immediately, his psionic energy infiltrated the two sentries' minds and took over. The sentries groaned slightly before being completely controlled.

They stepped back and allowed the man to enter.

Minutes later, an explosion took the entire station down.

"What is all that fuss? Don't tell me that Mengsk boy has got a riot in his hands. If you ask me, he's too soft."

In the bridge of her flagship, Mira Han rambled on. After the alliance was created, she brought her mercenary fleet to Korhal. Her fleet was in orbit. This made her unaware of all the assassination and chaos on the ground. A few of her operatives on the ground reported hearing gunshots, but they had no idea what was going on.

The bridge was silent. Officers looked at each other, but not one of them was able to stand up and solve the female mercenaries' doubts. Suddenly, with a light click, the blast door opened. Mira turned and found one of her most trusted lieutenants walking in. She remembered sending him to Korhal to buy some supply for the mercenaries.

He froze.

"You ok? What is wrong with you." Mira asked casually. She subconsciously didn't think the lieutenant might be up to no good. They were in the middle of her private fleet. Make a move on her, and the assassin would be dead in two seconds.

Except the man had no problem with making that trade.

The man didn't answer. Instead, he reached into the storage chamber of his CMC armor and pulled out something.

 _"For Amon!"_

The explosion tore the entire bridge to shreds.

"Sir, we have had reports of over two dozen attacks on our officers!"

"Sir, three of our radar stations are down!"

"Sir, Commander Cassidy's personal transport is reported to have been pursued after and attacked by a group of our fighters! The transport has already gone down! There doesn't appear to be any survivor!"

"Sir, Commander Han's flagship is assaulted! The bridge is taken out! We don't know if Commander Han survived!"

"Sir, General Warfield's command center was attacked by a suicide bomber! The general's fine but the casualties are still counting!"

"Sir…"

Valerian Mengsk groaned as bad news kept on rolling in. Suddenly, a wave of gunshots exploded. The officers snapped and turned to Valerian. This wasn't a good sign when dozens of attacks have already happened and two commanders of major armies were likely dead.

Valerian stayed as calm as possible. He made contact with the security officer at the front door. When the call went through, the gunshots were gone already.

"Report."

"Sir, a group of hostile covert operatives attempted to break in. We dealt with them. It's all clear now...uh!"

Valerian slightly backed off. Just as he was about to deploy some reinforcement, a familiar voice came in.

"Now it's all clear, junior." Viper glanced at half a dozen dead spectres in front of her, as well as a Dominion Sons of Korhal elite marine with purple marks on his neck. Moments ago, the spectres took down most of the guards and only kept the officer alive to deceive anyone asking what happened into thinking it was clear. It was aimed to help the spectres get in. Thankfully, Viper wiped out the spectres.

Valerian nodded. He trusted Viper. The female spectre has saved him many times.

"Thank you."

Viper shrugged and turned off the comm. Suddenly, she closed her eyes. A wave of emotions, anger, fear, rage, flew through her body.

She closed her eyes. The emotions weren't completely new. What seemed like years ago, on Char, when she thought Jean was dead and all was lost, that feeling happened. That day, she almost killed Raynor and nearly wasted the Queen of Blades.

But things have changed. Jean is alive, and Viper will gladly follow Jean to the end. She had no need to descend into darkness.

When she opened her eyes again, they were pure.

Valerian didn't know what was going on in Viper's head, and he didn't have the time to care either.

More bad news came in.

In the orbit of Korhal, a large protoss fleet warped in.

Red psionic energy. Golden hulls. Golden Armada.

It wasn't the entire Golden Armada, but Dominion satellites still counted 300 capital ships. The Dominion, on the other hand, was in a mess. Mira's Marauders were crippled after losing its leader. The Dominion Fleet was ready to fight, but moments ago dozens of fighters suddenly went rogue and attacked the flagships of the different fleets. Three generals died. Five more were wounded. The command structure was in pieces. The Dominion Fleet was struggling in fighting back.

When Golden Armada warp prisms sailed toward Korhal's surface, Valerian could no longer wait. Daelaam zealots would inflict massive casualties on the civilian population of Korhal. Even if they were defeated, the damage they caused would be too much to bear. He wasn't Jean. He couldn't sacrifice his own people for the final victory!"

"Get me Kerrigan and Nyon now!"


End file.
